Parents in part of South Yorkshire feel like they're raising their kids in a 'war zone'
People living on the Little London estate want the area to change for the better
Parents in a part of South Yorkshire tell us they feel like they're raising their children in a 'war zone'.
People living on the Little London estate in Maltby want two derelict buildings - which have been empty for 10 years- to get knocked down for health & safety reasons.
However, the decaying buildings are privately owned - & up to now, Rotherham Council haven't been able to buy them.
Dad of two Aaron Fuller sees the buildings every time he opens his curtains in a morning:
"It should be fenced off, and it hasn't been.
"It's completely exposed for people to trip, fall, slip, break ankles, and the rest of it.
"My eldest boy plays football on the green at the end of the estate, and I'm terrified about him going anywhere near this kind of stuff.
"I've told him just how dangerous the buildings are, so he knows to avoid them.
"It's like a Ukrainian war zone, we don't deserve to live like this."
Denise McBride lives down the road from Aaron - with her young grandson Oliver:
"The children need to know that they're worth more than this.
"It looks like a war zone where they're playing, and they don't know any different.
"It breaks my heart to see them in these conditions.
"The estate has been forgotten and ignored for about 20 or 30 years."
We've contacted the property owner Rivergrove - but are yet to receive a response.
In response, the leader of Rotherham Council - Chris Read - said:
"The Big Power for Little London are fighting such an impressive campaign to make the changes they need in their community, and I'm really glad to be working with them.
"It can't be acceptable that we have landlords in 2024 who expect their tenants to live in damp, cold, mouldy conditions, some of which have been shown to be demonstrably unsafe. It's just wrong that anyone is profiting from having people living in those conditions.
"Some of the things I've now seen there are genuinely shocking and the presence of the large unoccupied block in the middle of the estate is intolerable.
"Sadly, efforts to improve the area over many years - while they have made changes - have not brought it up to an acceptable standard.
"So, with additional property inspections and measures to tackle rats and vermin in the shorter term, we're working with the residents to attempt to bring forward the longer-term solutions they so clearly need."