Does anyone else feel like mild Anti-social behaviour is pretty bad in London? Or is it like this in most major cities in the world?
So sorry but this is going to be a long one.
Theres an alleyway adjacent to my house. The alleyway leads to a pub garden. Obviously in the summer and especially during the world cup games there are more customers using this alleyway to get to the pub (even though there is a main front entrance around the corner). In this alleyway there are around 4 mini flats. Its amazing how much noise, rubbish and loitering goes on. During the first England game someone left loose tampons (not used, each in it individual packets) on my front garden wall. I constantly find alcohol bottles, cups, plastic bags on my front garden wall and in my garden. Almost weekly, small bottles of alcohol are stuffed into my front garden hedge. People hang around outside the front of my house making so much noise. Screaming, drinking, smoking weed etc. Yesterday there were 3 men leaning on my garden wall, looking at my bird bath and discussing something. They looked on edge and undecided, as if they wanted to steal it. However, my bird bath is padlocked to my garden fence. Also, yesterday there was a man in the alleyway who was doing a video call loudly. He propped his phone up on someone’s mailbox as if he lived there, talking so loudly, smoking etc. Then, less than 2 hours later two men came to take drugs on this property and drink and speak loudly. Many people come down there to take drugs. I’ve even ha 2 heroin needles in my garden on two different occasions. One time I was pricked by one that was hidden under dead leaves I was clearing up and I had to get tested. Luckily, all was fine. Last week there were some teenagers outside my house. They were around 18 years old and were drinking alcohol, shouting and then ended up standing in my neighbour’s driveway/front garden. They were doing handstands, pushing each other into my neighbour’s fence. My neighbours were away so I opened my window and said “Can you get out of my neighbour’s garden and take your rubbish”. In fairness to them they listened and left. In the past I’ve had 2 drunk men arguing and then rip my garden wall fence off in anger. I’ve come home to find men drinking beer and using my wall as a bar to rest their drinks. They didn’t even flinch when I walked into my garden. I told them they need to go elsewhere. One time it was late at night and I could hear people in the alleyway outside my back garden gate making loads of noise. My dog needed to go wee so when I open the back door the group of people looked up at me and said “Can I help you?” like what the hell. You’re the one in a residential area making noise, drinking and doing drugs. The next morning I saw that they left their rubbish everywhere. Even my postman was saying it’s disgusting all the rubbish he sees dumped there. He said one time he even saw human faeces in the alleyway. I even heard people having sex there.
The people that previously lived in the flats in the alleyway never had wheelie bins. So everyday they’d dump their rubbish bags on my road to be collected by the bin men. The problem was they weren’t just putting them out the day before or the day of bin collection. They’d dump them there every week. So there was around 6 black bin bags on my road, near my house every day. This then encouraged people to fly-tip there. So we had fridges, cabinets, clothes etc there. All of this was right under a sign that the council had put there saying you’ll be prosecuted if you fly tip. With all the black bin bags there, the foxes were ripping them open everyday and dragging the rubbish into my garden. Regularly I’d have to clean up food waste, used nappies, used condoms and used period pads from my garden. Then the street was just full of rubbish. I sent letters to my neighbours about it. I knocked on each of their doors and spoke to them about it and they listened but didn’t seem too fussed that their bodily fluids and old food was all over the pavement and in my front garden. In the mornings they’d happily just walk over it all. I ended up finding out who their landlord was. I texted him asking him if he could contact the council and get wheelie bins for his residents. His response was “Can you do it?”. So I ended up asking the council. After emails to the relevant departments, councillors, local MPs and the CEO of the council, they eventually provided them with wheelie bins after 3 years of back and forth with them.
What’s more surprising is my area isn’t a rough, deprived area. But the pub and the alleyway just attracts these sorts of people. I have more leniency for the people suffering from alcohol and drug addiction. Usually if I say to them they can’t be there, they apologise and leave. But the vast majority of people that do all of this aren’t addicts but pub goers or passerby’s who have no visible addiction issues. Also in my area I’ve seen someone go into someone’s front garden to take a photo of a flower. I’ve seen people picking peoples flowers from their front garden. I’ve seen people standing outside houses for a while taking photos of their properties because it looks pretty. Which isn’t major but they stand there for quite a while doing it. It’s just constant. The amount of people I’ve had to challenge over it all is ridiculous.
So I guess I just wanted to rant and also ask if anyone else finds this to be an issue in London? And if you’re from another major city in the world is it like this also?
I feel safe in London for the most part and I think it’s a great city. The issues I mentioned are somewhat trivial. But when you’re faced with them all the time it becomes tiring and unpleasant.
Posted Jul 8, 2026, 9:38 AM UTC