PACKS of masked “feral kids” as young as 12 have taken over a suburb making life a “living hell” for residents who are scared to leave their homes, they claim.
The armed thugs are allegedly raiding shops and housing blocks, shooting people with air guns and doing drugs in broad daylight – with locals saying their pleas to police have fallen on deaf ears.
A Subway worker tries to push intruders back during a ‘siege’[/caption]
Several areas of the high street are closed off due to smashed glass[/caption]
The thugs, some said to be as young as 12, also allegedly hurl stones, golf balls and eggs at unassuming passersby amid their campaign of terror.
Shocking video footage shared with The Sun shows a Subway in Feltham, West London, under siege by hooded school kids as they trash the sandwich shop and jump over the counter to pinch food.
The borough sits in the shadow of a notorious young offenders institute, which in recent months has seen delinquents running amok with zombie blades within its walls.
The latest crime figures for the area around the high street itself, show August saw 122 anti-social behaviour incidents reported to police, as well as 111 violence and sexual offences, and 25 criminal damage and arson incidents.
One terrified local, who did not wish to be named due to fear of repercussions, told us the gangs have caused thousands of pounds worth of damage in various housing blocks.
He claimed one youth is often armed with a metal ball bearing gun, which he fires at people.
During our visit to the area last week, we found the glass panels at the borough’s railway station smashed, as well as the windows at the high street gym.
The local told The Sun: “They have tried to set fire to blocks of flats, putting paper through the letterboxes and setting fire to it.
“They force their way into the buildings and threatened people with physical violence.”
He added: “They wear masks in the street, which makes them more menacing.
“Everyone in the area is aware of them but the parents are allowing them to commit these crimes.”
He also claimed the thugs have stopped traffic to get into people’s cars and delivery trucks, as well as pinching bottles of vodka from off licences to get drunk in public.
Locals went to refer to an alleged incident in June in which a Lime e-bike was set fire to, causing its battery to explode.
On one occasion last year, it is claimed a delivery bike rider was held at knife point by schoolkids.
The local also told The Sun that one youth “has been going around touching people inappropriately”, while others have said racial slurs have been aimed at them.
As well as the Subway, it is claimed Feltham’s Asda, Greggs, Boots and Nisa Local have also been targeted.
The resident said: “If you say anything when they are stealing, their reaction is to threaten you, hurl the stolen goods and even kung foo kick people.”
He added that several youths have been given ASBOs but they are ignored. “There is ineffective local police and yet there is camera everywhere, but no action has been taken,” he said.
“The youths are able to do what they want, people are truly scared to go out.”
The worker managed to shove one youth back before they toppled onto the floor[/caption]
Vilay Patel, manager of the Subway, said the issue is getting out of hand[/caption]
Subway manager Vilay Patel told The Sun his staff are “terrified” by threats from the youth gangs.
“There is a gang of young kids and they keep coming in, for the last eight months, have been throwing eggs at staff, breaking the ice machine and throwing it around the shop.
“They keep reaching over the counter and trying to steal things. One girl once tried to jump over the counter and steal things while hissing vile abuse.”
Mr Patel, who manages Subway branches across London, continued: “They are racist to staff and show no respect.
“One boy lifted the glass up and was pulling the counter apart, they ran off with the cookies.
“The police say they know who those responsible are, but there isn’t much they can do as it is a low priority.
“The glass counter that the one lad lifted up fell and smashed. It costs about £800. My staff are terrified as they fear the verbally abusive youths could become physically abusive.
“These kids threaten the staff and say they will wait outside and stab them. It’s chaos.”
The shocking footage captured on CCTV in the sandwich chain on Feltham High Street shows the youths wreaking havoc in the shop.
Neighbouring shop worker, Fiona Desouza, 45, who works in Nisa Local, claims she has been racially abused by the gang who come into the store and brazenly hurl insults at staff and steal things.
The aftermath of the ‘siege’ at Subway, with smashed glass seen on the floor[/caption]
The youths shoved the protective glass back as the lone Subway staff member tried to hold the fort[/caption]
A trashed light fixture at a local housing block[/caption]
“It is really bad. Children wearing balaclavas come in. They steal things. They are very threatening.
“The most concerning thing about it is that often they are accompanied by adults, maybe their parents.
“We complain to the adults there about what is going on, and they threaten us too and say they will wait outside, follow us home, and will stab us.
“It is terrifying. They are small school kids who clearly think they are above the law, and the fact that they continually get away with it means they will likely continue to do so.
“If nothing is done, we fear things will continue to spiral further out of control.”
Other shop workers and owners echoed the concerns raised and called for more help, but declined to be named in fear of a backlash in criminal disorder from the young gangs.
In Facebook group Feltham Community 2.0, Paul Chapman posted at the end of August about “another attack” allegedly committed by “well known feral youths” on the high street.
He described watching one youth “helping themselves” to bottles in Greggs before confronting them and receiving a “barrage of verbal abuse” and “full plastic bottles being thrown at me”.
Paul added: “Staff at Greggs are in tears, this abuse happens to them EVERY day.
“I’m moving out of the area tomorrow after living in Feltham for 15 odd years and I won’t be sad to see the back of this frankly but I am still concerned for Feltham residents that will still have to live with this.”
In response, Elisa Bradford said: “These feral kids will never stop because there are never any real repercussions for their actions.”
The youths are seen managing to grab cookies and other food[/caption]
Feltham town centre is seeing a rise in anti-social behaviour[/caption]
Damage to a wall inside a housing complex[/caption]
One resident, 46, who has lived in a block of flats behind the high street for nine years, told The Sun he and his neighbours are scared to leave the the block because the youths allegedly congregate in the stairways, “smash the doors”, “smash the windows”, “urinate in the hall ways”, “throw eggs” and “threaten to stab” neighbours.
“It was fine when I first arrived here. But it has all kicked off after the pandemic,” the man said.
“After lockdown, kids wearing masks and balaclavas began coming to the block of flats and smashing up the entrance, urinating on the carpet, smoking weed.
“McDonald’s is where they congregate, and when they are kicked out of there, they come across to the apartment block, break in and cause chaos. It is people as young as 14 who should be at school.”
Another resident in the complex says she “fears” for her two children, aged two and seven, growing up in an area “plagued” by crime and that the gangs could influence them.
“It’s really bad and has been three years of chaos for me since I moved in,” she said.
“I am a mother of two children. A seven and a two-year-old, and I fear for their safety.
“I don’t want them to be exposed to such madness and grow up thinking this sort of behaviour is normal.”
One fed-up resident has since launched a petition calling for a clampdown on the bedlam in the community that the youths are causing.
In the description about the cry for help, she describes “peaceful days in Feltham have become rare, swapped for anxiety and disorder” and how “behaviour has transcended mere teenage mischief and wandered into a very real threat to our communal safety”.
‘Living in fear’
During The Sun’s visit to Feltham high street we watched parents usher children quickly past groups of jeering lads loitering outside takeaways.
The smell of cannabis hung heavy in the air – with teens wearing scarves around their faces, pulling them down only momentarily to spit or blow vape clouds.
We also watched pensioners shuffling past them with their heads down, seemingly petrified to make eye contact with the thugs.
Locals told us the area was a no-go zone after dark but now people avoid from 3.30pm as schools finish for the day.
“It is terrifying,” said one mother. “They are small school kids who clearly think they are above the law, and the fact that they are continually getting away with it means they will just carry on.”
“This is not just teenage high spirits,” said one independent shopkeeper who has recently had his windows smashed in.
“This is intimidation, abuse and violence. We are at breaking point.”
The Sun has approached the Met Police for comment.
The group of youths walked into the Subway late at night[/caption]
A smashed pane of glass in Feltham[/caption]
Feltham Young Offender Institution is situated in the area[/caption]
