Gangs invade our flats to smoke drugs and make 'evil' rap music videos, complain residents on Milton Keynes estate

Residents in a city estate block of flats have described how they are living in fear of gangs invading their communal areas.

Up to 30 or 40 youths at a time congregate on the stairs and hallway of the flats in Fishermead Boulevard.

They bring LED lights and “professional- looking” equipment to record rap chants about using knives and machetes, say residents.

"It really is very frightening. They stuff they are rapping about is evil. It’s all about stabbing people from rival gangs,” said one dad.

"They come here regularly and it’s been going on for about two years. We’ve complained to police many times but they still keep coming back,” he said.

The flats have security-coded doors but residents say youths gain access by climbing over a back fence.

“Last Friday there were more than 30 of them. They took over the communal areas and they came really prepared with lights and professional recording equipment… We called police and they eventually went at about midnight,” said the resident.

"I have young children and they were so scared that they refused to go to bed.”

At least 10 'postcode' gangs - made up of members from the same postcode area, or 'territory' - are said to operate in Milton Keynes.

The biggest gangs are MK4 in Westcroft, MK614 in Fishermead and B3 in Bletchley and the members range from young teenage schoolchildren to adults in their 20s.

Some of the gangs 'communicate' with each other through violent rap music videos that threaten stabbings and bloodshed. These are published on social media.

The youngsters film themselves wearing hoods, dancing and posing on city streets while reciting in rap style the violent acts they intend to carry out on rival gang members. Enemies are referred to as 'pagans' and the videos boast about the number of pagans the gangs have 'jumped up' or attacked.

Fishermead’s 614 gang is named after the MK6 and MK14 postcode areas.

When city MP Ben Everitt was elected in 2020, he urged police to clamp down on the postcode gangs that cause much of the city's knife crime problem.

During his maiden speech in the House of Commons, he said: “It is devastating and heartbreaking when a young life is extinguished by a blade.

“We need to sort this out... We need to retask our police to get tougher on what are called the postcode gangs and break up the scourge on society that is knife crime.”

Earlier this month, police launched a 17-strong specialist team, in partnership with MK City Council, to keep young people protected from gangs, drugs and exploitation on the streets of MK.

The team will support the youngsters where risks have been identified about various factors, including concerns around grooming or association with gangs and exploitation.

Following a referral via the multi-agency safeguarding hub (MASH), it will develop a tailored plan to give each young people access to a variety of resources such as youth work, mental health support, sports outreach and specialist education.

Police have also launched successful operations to clamp down on county lines drug dealing, which is often associated with gang culture.