A resident on a Leeds street in East End Park plagued by yobs said he doesn’t feel safe after youths set his neighbour’s house on fire.
Ruben Hill, 25, described the horrifying scenes as the flat became engulfed in flames and looked like the ‘gates of Hell’ during summer.
But he said the terror has not stopped for a single night since and he is desperate to find new housing.
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He moved into the area six years ago and said it was once a ‘quiet and safe’ place but has since been overrun by yobs and thugs.
Ruben said that each night the youths relentlessly set off fireworks and light bins on fire which has caused him to avoid leaving his property.
He said he doesn’t even venture into certain streets out of fear of what may happen.
Ruben, from Leeds, said: “These kids set my neighbour’s house on fire, it’s mad.
“Just a few months ago they set fire to a couch and then it burned the entire flat.
“I heard an explosion and bangs, but that’s normal here so I didn’t even realise they had done that.
“It looked like the gates of Hell, and it was spitting flames.
“I never get on some of the streets because you don’t know what could happen. It’s so unpredictable.”
Ruben said he doesn’t feel safe and is desperate for the council to find him a new home.
He added: “I don’t feel safe here and I don’t know if police will help.
“The shops here always get their doors smashed in, people’s windows get smashed in.
“Fireworks and burned bins every night.
“I don’t leave my house ever.
“I just want out, I don’t want to be here.”
Leeds City Council has secured a partial Closure Order for three months which is now in place across 12 streets in the area.
It means disorderly behaviour, possession of controlled drugs, possession of fireworks or other explosive devices and possession of any weapon is now prohibited.
Anyone breaching the restrictions will be asked to leave the area or be arrested.
Another resident, a man in his 40s who wished not to be named, said he lived his entire life in the area and wasn’t going to be threatened by kids who ‘like to set things on fire’.
He said: “It’s pretty much every single night.
“I have lived here my entire life, and these kids won’t be the reason I move.
“It’s just kids with fireworks, they like to light things on fire.
“I don’t like it, but they’re kids.”
The 12 streets in East End Park which have been included in the order are the following:
Ascot Terrace, Temple View Terrace, Temple View Place, Temple View Road, Glensdale Road, Glensdale Mount, East Park Drive, East Park View, Aysgarth Drive, Aysgarth Close, Aysgarth Walk and Aysgarth Place.
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