Camberwell known for its cool bars and restaurants is at risk of being overrun by drug dealers and giant rats unless it gets a clean-up, local residents and shoppers have claimed.
Camberwell’s eclectic mix of cultures and excellent transport connections have made it a night-time destination for people across the capital. But some locals fear this reputation is undermined by issues with antisocial behaviour and oversized rodents centred around a local park.
They say groups of youths gather in Camberwell Green until the early hours peddling drugs, while huge rats roam in packs through grassy areas on the common.
Others say the Green has become a hotspot for drunks who hang out on benches swigging cans of beer from mid-morning until late every day.
Local resident Cassie Graham, who passes through the park weekly, said she regularly saw the massive rodents hanging out in the grass. The 32-year-old said: “I don’t like the rats. I see them all the time and it’s not really hygienic.
“I don’t know where the rats are coming from, but they’re quite big. I usually see about five of them together. I think the council should do something about them.
“I don’t think it’s good for people to be lying on the grass with them.”
Adriana, 29, who had just left a popular local sushi bar, said she felt unsafe walking through the area at night due to drug users on Camberwell Green.
She said: “I feel very intimidated as there are loads of druggies on the Green. It’s not very family friendly. They don’t clean it up a lot; the bins are overflowing.”
She added: “I’ve not seen any but I do know people who’ve been reporting rats. So they’re on the scene and that’s a very uncomfortable thing to have to come to grips with [in order] to sit on the Green and have a nice time.”
But Janet Emmanuel, 60, said she thought the Green had cleaned up in recent years, partly because of the influx of well-to-do Londoners into the area.
She said: “It’s quite nice now and they have a farmer’s market at the weekend that’s really lovely.
“Certainly it has been gentrified. On one hand that’s a good thing and on the other hand people have been pushed out.
“It’s quite open and always busy so it tends to feel safe, but I don’t know if I would be coming through here at 1 o’clock in the morning.”
Ms Emmanuel added that she’d like to see more big shops on the high street to make Camberwell somewhere more than a crossroads between other more well known areas like Brixton and Elephant and Castle.
“There’s really not much here for shopping. It’s a bit of a pass-through and you only get those who are homeless or down on their luck hanging around and drinking.”
One resident living in a flat overlooking the Green said there had been a problem with youths drug dealing outside his building since he moved into the area eight years ago.
The man, who was afraid to give his name in case he faced a backlash, said: “We only have one problem: these young people smoking and selling drugs and making noise at night. It’s from four or five in the afternoon until 2am in the morning.
“Noone can talk to them. They are too aggressive. They want a fight with anyone who tries to talk to them and are abusive.
“The council and police should do something about it. They need to find a way to prevent this type of thing.”
Metropolitan Police statistics show that Camberwell Green is a crime hotspot.
Latest figures show that 13 offences were reported by the Green in June. Of these crimes, six were classed as antisocial behaviour.
In May, the Green was also listed as a crime hotspot, with 14 offences reported directly next to it, 10 of which were antisocial behaviour.
In the wider Camberwell Green neighbourhood, there were 223 crimes reported. The most common crimes were violence and sexual offences (55), followed by antisocial behaviour (52) and ‘other theft’ (26).
Southwark Council were contacted about the issues raised in this article but had failed to respond at the time of publication.