Tenants don’t feel safe in their Finsbury Park flats because drug users keep barricading themselves in the block.

Islington Gazette: Rubbish piling up outside the Hornsey Wood Court bin room in Lennox Road. Picture: Ly VoongRubbish piling up outside the Hornsey Wood Court bin room in Lennox Road. Picture: Ly Voong (Image: Archant)

People in Hornsey Wood Court, Lennox Road, say addicts have regularly annexed the bin store over the last four years - and on one occasion threatened a man with a screwdriver.

They've been gaining entrance through a broken door and leaving syringes and other drug paraphernalia scattered inside. Intruders are also overturning and rummaging through bins, likely symptomatic of Islington's growing homeless population, and a sign of the increasingly desperate times. There is no evidence the people taking drugs in the bin room are homeless.

But people have been blocking the internal door to the bin room so neighbours can't take their rubbish out, causing bags to pile up in the corridor.

Landlord Clarion housing association said it was taking the issues very seriously.

Ly Voong, who is wheelchair-bound and lives on the second floor with his two young children, said: "The door's still broken so people are still coming in and [potentially] setting the building alight, it's horrible.

"This is our home, this is somewhere we should feel safe. But at the moment it doesn't feel safe. You can't go down to the bin area without thinking someone's hiding behind the doors and you could get stabbed with a syringe.

"A tenant was threatened with a screwdriver a couple of months ago. The tenant told a guy to get out [of the bin room] and he pulled out a screwdriver. He has got four kids." Ly had CCTV installed outside his own flat to keep his family safe.

He added: "I've got two kids myself. I'm disabled in a wheelchair - the kids can run but I can't."

A spokesperson for Clarion said: "We are aware of the issues at Hornsey Wood Court and take them very seriously. The safety and wellbeing of our residents is our top priority and despite repeated repairs the problem has reoccurred so we have been working across departments to identify solutions. While we find a permanent resolution, we have given the local Police, who have increased their patrols of the area, a fob so they can quickly gain access and deal with any issues. A site visit is planned for this week we will update residents with the plan of action following this.