Met Police attend knife call at Townley Court near Stratford

But a witness claimed to this paper it was a vexatious report made by a drug user, to cause problems for an innocent resident.

The row erupted after gangs continued to use despairing residents’ doorsteps as gathering places to use drugs.

One tenant, whose building the addicts are using as a toilet, said they had been waiting in vain for two weeks for Newham Council to jetwash human faeces off of their home.

But a council spokesperson insisted: “We join with residents at Townley Court to totally condemn this appalling behaviour.”

Three marked police cars and two police vans were scrambled to Townley Court, near Stratford on Tuesday, June 18.

A male resident, who asked not to be named, claimed he witnessed the incident from his home.

He said a tenant asked a group of drug users to move, as they were blocking the door to her block of flats. But instead of letting her pass, they allegedly began shouting abuse at her.

When her husband came to her aid, the witness claimed one of the aggressors called police and falsely reported that he had threatened them with a knife.

Since our last Townley Court report, residents have captured even more evidence of drug use on their doorsteps (Image: Supplied)

“Police were called to Faraday Road, Newham, following reports of disturbance that allegedly involved a knife,” the Metropolitan Police Service confirmed.

“Officers attended the scene and spoke with residents. There was no knife found and no injuries or arrests were made.”

Earlier this month, the Recorder’s exposé of conditions on the Townley Court estate made national headlines in the Sun, the Mirror, the Daily Star and the Daily Mail.

Tenants and homeowners detailed how addicts smoked crack and injected heroin in front of uninterested police officers, while sex workers serviced clients in broad daylight in front of children.

Almost 550 crimes were reported in three years on the small estate. Off Romford Road, it is situated around a ten-minute walk from Maryland station and accessed via Faraday Road.

Police and the council promised action after our reporting, including overnight patrols – but residents said there was no sign of them having begun.

We published photos last week showing the drug-taking gatherings on residents’ doorsteps were continuing.

This week, we publish even more recent photographs of two women appearing to use crack pipes.

“The groups just seem to be getting larger and larger and the noise is getting worse,” said one female resident.

“Again, it’s between midnight and 4am, when nobody will patrol here. The police turned up yesterday morning, served two of them with paperwork and the rest were allowed to walk away.”

A resident said she had been waiting two weeks for Newham Council to come and clean up drug users' faeces. Meanwhile, in the hot weather, the smell was becoming unbearable (Image: Supplied)

A common problem reported on the estate is that addicts participating in all-night gatherings on residents’ doorsteps have nowhere to go to the toilet, so use the street or people’s gardens.

The Recorder found faeces during its own visit and last week we published a photograph of faeces smeared down the wall of a building.

The affected resident said the council had thus far failed to come out and clean it up.

“I put in the request on the 11th of June and I’ve still not been contacted by the street cleansing department,” she said.

“We’re getting people urinate there daily, so it absolutely stinks – especially now the weather is warm.

Police entering flats at Townley Court (Image: Supplied)

“Again, this is just proving that the council and the police are not interested in cleaning up the area and are happy for this to continue because it doesn’t impact them directly.”

But Newham Council insisted: “We are working closely with the police to explore further use of late-night patrols and we continue to deal with any issues as swiftly as possible.”

The council has fitted padlocks on buildings in Townley Court, Dyson Road and Faraday Road since our reporting, to thwart crooks who had been using emergency fire keys to gain access.

They included prostitutes who used the blocks of flats to ply their trade.

“We are committed to ensuring the safety and wellbeing of our community and we will continue to work diligently to address these problems,” the council said.

It added that residents could report antisocial behaviour to its community safety team by dialling 0208 430 2000.

Police urged any witnesses to the alleged knife attack on June 18 to call 101 and quote reference CAD2435/18JUNE24.