After years of dealers exploiting its labyrinth of metal walkways and dark stairwells to peddle drugs, police decided enough was enough on Rochdale’s Freehold Estate.

Greater Manchester Police put the notorious estate on ‘lockdown’ in November last year.

Outsiders were banned from entering the grounds of 19 blocks of flats for a three months, with the risk of arrest.

Officers were pleased with the measure, and eventually lifted the lockdown, happy that crime had been reduced.

But months later, terrified locals say it ‘made no difference’ to the daily torment they are forced to endure and that they still ‘live in fear’.

One resident told MailOnline: ‘For about one week or two weeks there was a sign about the order, then nothing. Everyone came back again.

‘Even now, I don’t want them to see me speaking to you. I’m not scared of them but I have an expensive car and they will smash it if they know somebody is talking to you.’

The father, who has lived on the estate for 12 years, added: ‘The police don’t do anything.

‘They don’t care.

‘Why can’t they catch people? People are being housed here straight from prison, fresh from prison.

‘Everyday you have new people coming here who are causing trouble. So they arrest people, but then new people come in and it’s the same thing.

‘And they are not scared of police. Police can’t do anything. They take them to prison for one night like a holiday and then the next day they are back doing the same thing.

‘I bought the house I live in a year ago and I need to wait four more years until I can rent it. Then I will leave because it’s not safe with children.

‘This is an old area so the council ignore it. There was no banning happened.’

Speaking of how other neighbours also live in terror, he said: ‘I have kids, my neighbours all have kids, and we don’t feel safe. It’s good because we look out for each other, but it is a problem.

‘About a year or two ago it felt like it was getting better but it has gone very bad now.

‘People put on loud music late at night and smoke outside. I’ve called the police and said they are drug users, and they say ‘how do you know’. I told them ‘I can smell.’

‘They come here everyday for a ‘smell patrol’ and then go back to their station.

‘It’s become so dangerous for women and children.

‘During winter when it gets dark earlier I go out most of the time, not my wife, because it’s not safe.

‘And my daughter is now 14 and she never goes out here alone. I go with her or my wife goes with her.’

Meanwhile, a local who lives nearby suggested the only way to fix the issues was to demolish the entire blocks of flats.

The local said: ‘It’s really sad. These gangs are bringing young children in and it’s really sad.

‘I’ve got kids of my own and I wouldn’t want them surrounded by that sort of thing.

‘It’s 100 per cent gotten worse as well.

‘Maybe if they knocked it down, they would get rid of the problem. Maybe that’s the only way.

‘Just bulldoze it. And then rehouse them.’

In June 2022, a drugs gang known as the ‘Portuguese mafia’ were jailed for  cuckooing vulnerable addicts and grooming children to sell drugs.

Nine members of the gang – which goes by the name ‘706’ – were convicted after being found to have taken over the homes of addicts and made them into drugs bases and exploited kids to deal on their behalf. 

But drugs crimes are not the only thing Freehold has come under scrutiny for.

In 2020, two-year old Awaab Ishak died following prolonged exposure to mould in the one-bed flat he and his parents lived in on the estate.

An inquest found his parents had pleaded with the housing association to solve the problem prior to his death.

The tragedy led to widespread measures across the estate to remove damp and mould – which 80 per cent of residents were found to be living in – and even saw a law change in his name forcing landlords to fix dangerous homes.

But while Rochdale Borough Housing (RBH) and Rochdale Council seem to have been able to put the mould scandal behind them, the issue of crime seems harder to shake off.

Those living across the road from the estate told of how they feel unsafe and do not let their children walk through the estate.

The estate has a shortcut through to a nearby school and to the town centre which was previously opted for by residents but is now largely avoided.

One woman, who went by the name ‘Margaret’, said: ‘It doesn’t feel safe living here anymore.

‘The druggies take the bus here to the bus stop right outside, go into the stairwells and do their thing, then get right back on the bus the other way.

‘The dealing in the stairwells has cleared up but the thing is it will just have moved the problem on elsewhere.’

A woman in her 20s who has lives by the estate said: ‘It used to be quite a friendly environment, used to go in the park area in the flats they used to have and play.

‘But as we’ve grown older new people have come and the dynamics have changed completely.

‘Now you’ll see teenage boys hanging around over the back doing balloons and smoking weed. On the weekend you’ll just smell weed in the whole area.

‘There is less of it after the police did the ban but it’s not really changed anything, they do still sneak in there. And on the weekend they’ll throw parties, you can hear arguments, people drinking smashing bottles stuff like that.

‘You do see gangs mainly near the pitch and you’ll see drill rappers there doing their YouTube videos.

‘I don’t think the police banning them has changed anything.

‘I think they tried to do what they could do with RBH but the police aren’t here 24/7 and when it’s past midnight they will come back and do what they need to do. And by the time they see police cars or hear sirens they just go off.

‘For me I’m used to it, but for outsiders, like when my cousins visit from further north they always call it ‘Drugdale’ and they feel uncomfortable.

‘Before back in the days it used to be older people causing trouble but now you see 14 or 15 year olds getting groomed into it.’ 

One mother-of-two who lives nearby the estate told MailOnline: ‘There’s a lot of drug dealing going on there, pick ups and drop offs.

‘And I haven’t seen any difference. 

‘Having younger kids around here is difficult. I’m very careful about letting my kids play out, I don’t let them cut across through the estate.

‘The only reason we are here is we have family here, but we are thinking of moving. 

‘My daughter told me the other day she’s walking through Freehold, I said ‘no you’re  not’. 

‘There is an air of anxiety, every sort of five to six weeks there’ll be something happening at the estate.

‘There’s always blue lights there, there was a stabbing recently.

‘It all becomes one thing after the other. The blue lights are a constant.

‘It’s been hard to live around here with young children, there’s a lot of influence, drug dealing, that sort of thing.

‘There’s a lot of gang culture. A lot of youth with not a lot to do, hanging around drug dealing.

‘The poverty here is unreal. You can see the kids have nowhere to go, are probably born into it, see no way of being involved in things in the community, and instead end up involved in drugs and crime.’

Another local who lives on one of the roads surrounding the estate said: ‘I tend to stay away but I’ve heard there’s issues with drugs. I’ve grown up here and it’s not the same.

‘I’ve not seen the dealing but I’ve seen the consequences. Everyday there’s a police car or van that’s nearby, sirens on a daily.

‘At a point a few weeks ago it really did feel like it was everyday.

‘It’s not safe around here at all at night.

‘We on this side of the road are mainly second generation families so we’re quite proud of our community but it’s just ruined it for our kids that they’re getting a very different view of it.

‘It was not like this before. Before the estate was built in the 70s it was a street of terraced housing on both sides.

‘It was probably one of the best areas in Rochdale with lots of families and quite an educated area.

‘Now the field at the back the other day you see a lot of dealing as well. Luckily my son understands what’s going on so he’s careful.

‘But they meet in the field and car park behind, drive up a bit, and sell their stuff.

‘I remember being a young boy walking through the flats to town and it was fine.

‘But I wouldn’t go through there now.

‘At the time the people who were moving in were hardworking people but they’ve been replaced over the years with riffraff.’

While the closure order was announced in November last year and put in place for three months, many said they saw little to no difference.

One resident who lives opposite the block said: ‘It would be really good if something could be done about it because I’ve lived on the block opposite for over a decade now and it’s really bad.

‘They did the three-month ban but they didn’t really implement it.

‘It didn’t really change anything, people are still walking through it all the time.

‘I think the dealing in the stairways has stopped, they cracked down on it, but other than that it’s still not great.’

Hayley Stockham, RBH Director of Neighbourhoods, said: ‘We want to make sure that Freehold is a safe and welcoming place to live.

‘We are working with our customers, residents and our partners at Rochdale Borough Council and Greater Manchester Police, to make this happen.

‘I’m proud of the work that has taken place over the last few years to improve the estate. We’ve received positive feedback from the community and our initiatives have been nationally recognised.

‘However, at the same time we know there is still work to do and this is continuing on a daily basis.

‘I also want to be clear – we have a zero tolerance approach to crime and anti-social behaviour across all our estates and urge anyone who has any concerns to contact us so we can support them. We will take action against RBH customers who carry out any crime or anti-social behaviour as this breaches their tenancy agreements. 

‘In the most serious cases, this could even result in a customer being evicted.

‘We’d urge anyone who sees criminal activity to report it to the police so it can be dealt with appropriately.

‘We have a long term vision for Freehold and as part of this work, we’re investing around £5m in improvements to the blocks, including new security measures for the stairwells. We’ve had some great feedback from the community who have helped us to shape these plans.’

A GMP spokesperson said: ‘The open-space closure order zone was in place for three months and not extended beyond that. 

‘The feedback from residents and communities about its impact has been really positive, and we have strengthened relationships with the community and partners.

‘For Operation Affect, we made 48 arrests, carried out 11 warrants, there were three Full Closure Orders on properties suspected of being used for drug dealing, numerous injunctions and CBOs.

‘There was an overall reduction of 13.5 per cent across all crimes in April compared to a year ago.

‘Arrests and seizure have been driven by intelligence from the community to allow us to bring offenders to justice, and we are grateful for that information as it makes a huge difference and might be the final piece of the jigsaw we need.

‘Enforcement was just the starting point – we are now working closely with Rochdale Council and Rochdale Boroughwide Housing to make Freehold a better place to live.’