RESIDENTS from one of the UK’s "most dangerous" areas say there’s always a crime scene and people walk around like zombies.
Barking station in east London has a reputation at night with locals for theft, harassment and even stabbings.
The latest police data reveals there was a total of 267 crimes reported in April 2023 for Northbury and 2,636 in the last 12 months.
The vast majority were violence and sexual offences or anti-social behaviour.
In January, a 32-year-old man was stabbed during a fight on the platform shortly after 10pm on a Friday night, according to the Evening Standard.
Sukhwinder Singh, 31, was also stabbed to death after chasing two muggers who snatched a 28-year-old woman's handbag near the station, The Guardian reported.
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Francesca Smithen, 36, who has lived in the area for a year, said she almost had her handbag stolen at the station and feels the area is 'unsafe'.
She told the Sun: "There's a lot of robberies. People getting beaten up and followed. Loads of drunk people and crackheads around. I nearly got robbed at the train station. They tried to take my bag.
"It's really dangerous around here. It's just drunk people walking around trying to get money. I feel unsafe around this bit or down the road. It’s not safe here really. People walk around like zombies."
Mithun Vijy, 30, born in Barking and a shop worker at gadget store MCX, said: "We get a lot of drunken people at the station, especially on Friday and Saturday coming out of The Spotted Dog pub. We do see a lot of police and law enforcement officers walking around."
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Brian Mukiri, 50, owner of Pretty Angel boutique, said: "We close at 6pm but you can tell sometimes in the morning that there has been trouble because we find a lot of police and the station is all closed up."
Natalie Ozola, 30, who has worked in the nearby Vicarage Field shopping centre for more than 12 years, described how her friend's 14-year-old son was mugged at the station.
"It's always a crime scene there. I don't come from Barking myself, but I wouldn't recommend anyone after maybe 5 or 6pm with their kids going near the station," she said.
"There are a lot of robberies, drug dealers, addicts, homeless people, pickpockets, and things like that. I don't feel safe going out there even if I don’t have to go into the station. During the day it's fine, but in the evening definitely not.
"Even my friend's child had his phone snatched out of his hands and punched in the face. He was only 14 years old. It's not safe at all."
Rehan Malik, 38, is market trader who has a stall just outside the station and has lived in Barking since 2009.
He told MyLondon: "At night time, the area around the station is horrendous. It’s horrible. For men, it isn’t as bad. But for girls, it’s really, really bad. It’s very intimidating because men stand around, they stare, whistle, and try to chat women up."
Padma Sadnani, 57, who runs another shop at the shopping centre, said a man got into her car at the station.
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She said: "One day at around 5pm, I left my house to get into my car, and I had a man get into my car. He sat on my lap and tried to actually drive my car. It frightened the life out of me and I thought, what’s going on?
"I started screaming but there was no one around. He eventually got out of the car but I was so shaken by it. I rang the police immediately."
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