A disabled man claims he is ‘too scared to sleep’ over issues with his neighbours in council housing in Reading.
John Tweed, 49, who has multiple disabilities, lives in a bungalow, managed by Reading Borough Council, in Whitley Wood.
The retired roofer claims he has been intimidated by some local residents.
He has accused neighbouring households of serious breaches of their council tenancy, including wrongfully using their gardens for tyre storage, business purposes and storing waste, and intimidating him.
Mr Tweed said: “It ramped up over the last year. I saw eight rubbish bags in the garden.
“And I complained, and within a week of me complaining, they started playing loud music late at night, early in the morning.”
Photos he provided showed tyres being stored in nearby gardens, overflowing bins and cars blocking access to his driveway.
Reading Borough Council said that action has been taken to remove rubbish and waste from the gardens of the neighbouring property.
Mr Tweed said he fears reprisals for his complaints and has therefore installed motion sensors in his front garden and a doorbell camera.
He said he is “too scared to sleep” in his bed out of fears of “break-ins”.
Mr Tweed said: “I’m sleeping on the sofa. I’m only getting two to three hours sleep at night because people are coming and going late at night.
I won’t go to bed until I know they’re all home and in bed.”
He claimed he has tried to resolve the issue, seeking help from Thames Valley Police and Reading Borough Council.
A police community protection order was issued to a household in the area by police on September 2.
A council tenancy warning was also issued last year, with a reminder sent this April.
Mr Tweed claims there have been multiple breaches since the warning.
He said: “There have been six breaches after the tenancy warning.”
Due to ongoing issues, he made an initial complaint to the council, which has not been upheld.
Mr Tweed has criticised the council, asking: “At what point are you actually going to enforce the tenancy warning notice?
“I just want this behaviour to stop.
“I don’t think any disabled person or mentally ill person should have to live under these conditions.”
He used to work in roofing but has had to retire due to injuries to his neck and back, and has had one of his fingers amputated. He uses a walking stick to assist mobility.
A council spokesperson stated that it is working with Mr Tweed to resolve the issues, successfully removing items from gardens and taking action where appropriate.
They said: “We fully appreciate why these incidents would cause distress to Mr Tweed.
“The council has been in contact with him on numerous occasions to listen to his concerns, investigate and take action where appropriate.
“Following investigation from our ASB Team, a warning letter was sent to the residents of the house in question in November last year, with a subsequent reminder in April related to noise.
“We have visited the property alongside a Police Community Support Officer to remind them of their responsibilities under the tenancy agreement, including the importance of being considerate neighbours.
“We continue to monitor the situation and are liaising with Mr Tweed and responding to reports when they are received.
“We have suggested to Mr Tweed he may wish to apply for a white ‘H’ road marking to be painted across his drive to deter vehicles from overhanging his driveway.
“A Housing officer also visited several times late last year to address issues of black sacks and rubbish in the garden, which have subsequently been resolved.
“Whilst a number of positive outcomes have been achieved in this case further to Mr Tweed’s communications with our ASB and Housing teams, we remain in conversation with him via the Noise app, which provides residents the opportunity to record and raise concerns over nuisance noise and allows us to liaise with them through the app to resolve issues.
“We remain open to working with him to explore other routes to try to realise a positive outcome to this situation with his neighbours.”
The spokesperson added that he can use a commissioned Noise app to record and report disturbances to the council.
