Inside the ‘hellhole’ northern village where refugees are being ‘dumped’ by London councils as fed-up locals say ‘we’ve been forgotten’

Fed-up locals say their village has become a ‘hellhole’ and a ‘dumping ground’ for refugees for councils in London.

Residents in the former mining village of Eldon Lane in County Durham have compared their community to a ‘ghost town’ with eerie streets full of vandalised homes covered in boarded up windows.

Anti-social behaviour and crime have become so extreme in the village that, in the past, bus drivers refused to stop in the area.

While a YouTuber visiting the area harshly branded it a ‘Victorian slum’.

It comes as towns and villages across County Durham are becoming home to an increasing number of refugees who are reportedly moved up to the North East of England by councils in the south.

Cheap housing in deprived towns and villages – where properties are known to sell for just £5,000 – make them prime locations for councils to place migrants in the hands of private landlords.

Bordered up homes in Eldon Lane, County Durham. Locals across the former coal mining village have welcomed the migrants but also acknowledge that there are a lot of local issues that also need fixing

An abandoned house in Eldon Lane. Anti-social behaviour and crime have become so extreme in the village that bus drivers even refuse to pick up locals. While a YouTuber visiting the area harshly branded it a ‘Victorian slum’

A horse tied up near the village. One YouTuber recently likened Eldon Lane to ‘a Victorian slum’ but despite their own hardship, villagers have rallied round to help asylum seekers who have arrived in their midst without even a bed to sleep on

One local told MailOnline: ‘They started placing refugees and Londoners here all of a sudden, maybe two years ago they started to arrive, it became a dumping ground.

‘But we’ve got nowt here, so they’re in the same boat as us.’

MPs have said it is ‘abhorrent’ that deprived communities in the North have been singled out to rehouse asylum seekers and vulnerable families by authorities in London and the south.

Last year London Borough councils moved up two vulnerable households every month into homes owned by private landlords due to a shortage of social housing in the capital, according to an investigation by the Northern Echo.

Multiple sources across the region have confirmed that a large number of refugees are also being transported to County Durham.

The North East of England is battling a housing crisis where 75,000 families are on waiting lists for social housing and over 300 children are homeless in County Durham alone.   

Eldon Lane is one such village facing significant social issues – with 39 per cent of households living in deprivation. 

Debris in Eldon Lane. The cheap housing in the crumbling towns and villages – where properties are known to sell for just £5,000 – across County Durham  make them prime locations for councils to place migrants in the hands of private landlords

The signs of decay are obvious on every street, with rows of houses with windows either smashed by stones or boarded up.

Locals have welcomed the refugees but warned that the village has long been deprived of basic amenities. 

The village GP practice closed down two years ago and the nearest A and E department is in Darlington, a 22 mile round trip away.

There is no dentist, chemist, school or bank and the last of its pubs closed down years ago.

One man praised the refugees and immigrants moving to the village said Eldon Lane had long been ‘forgotten’ by local and national administrations.

He said: ‘They’re nice friendly people who look after their houses and they don’t take drugs and smash the place up, so good luck to them.  

‘They look after their houses and a lot of them work to pay their way.

‘Eldon Lane has long been forgotten and left behind, we’re used to it but the place has become an absolute hellhole.’

Empty shops in the centre of the village. Locals have welcomed the refugees but warned that the village has long been deprived of basic amenities. The village GP practice closed down two years ago and the nearest A and E department is in Darlington, a 22 mile round trip away.

A smashed window in Eldon Lane. One local said: ‘Eldon Lane has long been forgotten and left behind, we’re used to it but the place has become an absolute hellhole’

So chronic is the lack of investment, that locals have got together to create a playground for their kids. Swings, slides and trampolines, which are intended for communal use

An abandoned shop. One local said: ‘There were dozens of shops and pubs and the place was alive. When you walk through it now it makes you shudder, it’s like a ghost town

Pictured: Bethany Wainwright (left) and Joanne Rowlands (right). Ms Rowlands said: ‘I was brought up in Eldon Lane and I know it has a bad reputation but I’m used to that’ 

So chronic is the lack of investment, that locals have got together to create a playground for their kids. Swings, slides and trampolines, which are intended for communal use, have been carried out onto the grassed area behind the high street. 

The grass is tended by locals to give their kids a place to play, with few of the small housing authority homes having external space for a garden.

The backdrop to Eldon Lane’s DIY playground is two rows of boarded up houses which have been derelict for years.

The crime has reached a point where it is now out of control, according to some.

Casting an eye up the deserted main road, Spencer Street, one local recalled distant better days.

He said: ‘My dad worked at the pit and it was a profitable one, there was coal piled as high as the houses and the high street was bouncing.

‘There were dozens of shops and pubs and the place was alive. When you walk through it now it makes you shudder, it’s like a ghost town, you barely see a soul who’s ventured out because what is there to venture out for?’

While local Bethany Wainwright, 25, said: ‘It’s rough, you can’t get around that, it’s obvious just by looking round at the number of empty and vandalised houses.

‘The bus even had to stop coming through here at night because it was getting pelted with stones and it was dangerous from the driver and the passengers.

‘There is a lot of vandalism and stone throwing and fires being started but there is nothing at all for the kids to do, there’s nothing left here.

‘The great thing about Eldon Lane is that it’s a community and people are good to each other, they look out for one another.’

Durham’s Labour MP Mary Kelly Foy added: ‘It’s absolutely abhorrent that London authorities are not only discharging their duties by relocating people out of London, away from any support network they may have in place

Eldon Lane village. The North East of England already faces many issues including a housing crisis where 75,000 families are on waiting lists for social housing and over 300 children are homeless in County Durham alone 

Oghenekome Ivbijaro (pictured), 39, arrived three years ago in Eldon Lane from Nigeria with her husband and three children. She said: ‘When we first arrived we had little and the local church found us everything that we needed’

Carer Joanne Rowlands, 25, said: ‘I was brought up in Eldon Lane and I know it has a bad reputation but I’m used to that.

‘There are problems with crime here, houses getting damaged and kids were even setting light to the post boxes which meant people’s mail was being destroyed.

‘It’s not even the local kids that do a lot of it, they come in from surrounding areas to cause damage here because they know they can get away with it.’

Christine Steward, 75, originally from Southampton, arrived in Easington Lane with her husband, a County Durham native, in the late 70s and fell in love with the village.

She said: ‘The place has a good heart and I love it here and was very disappointed to read it had been called a slum.

‘It could be so much better with a bit of investment. We have housing associations who are content to leave rows of houses boarded up instead of repairing them and finding tenants.

‘It was a thriving place once and it could be again if the local authority gave it a bit of care and attention.

‘Lately we’ve been getting quite a few refugees and they’re just left here on some occasions with absolutely nothing.

‘When that happens the locals rally round and help them, because that’s the kind of community this is.

‘One man didn’t even have a mattress to sleep on so we found him a bed, we’ve also helped find clothes for the children of refugees to see them through the winter.

‘It must be terrible to be dumped in a strange place with nothing but the clothes on your back, so we help them, they’re welcome here and we’ll look after them.’

A row of empty houses in Eldon Lane. Durham County Council launched a rescue plan aimed at saving the villages from economic decline. However, some were seen to be beyond redemption and were left to die off Somehow Eldon Lane still managed to survive but has struggled with economic decline and unemployment ever since

An empty street in Eldon Lane. Eldon Lane was one of many villages across County Durham that sprang up to support the coalfield. For a short time it prospered as villagers served three pits in the same valley

A welcome to Eldon Lane sign. Like many Durham mining communities it has suddenly found itself attracting people from the opposite end of the country as councils in the south look to rehouse people as cheaply as possible

Oghenekome Ivbijaro, 39, arrived three years ago in Eldon Lane from Nigeria with her husband and three children.

She said: ‘When we first arrived we had little and the local church found us everything that we needed. We have come to like it here and 90 per cent of the people are friendly and helpful.

‘I found a job in a care home and we feel we’ve become part of the community. It helps us to have other Nigerians and some Zimbabweans here as well, there is a small African community here now.’

Eldon Lane was one of many villages across County Durham that sprang up to support the coalfield.

For a short time it prospered as villagers served three pits in the same valley, however Eldon closed in 1932; Black Boy in 1939, and Auckland Park in 1946.

Durham County Council launched a rescue plan aimed at saving the villages from economic decline.

However, some were seen to be beyond redemption and were left to die off with residents being housed in the new town of Newton Aycliffe nearby.

Somehow Eldon Lane still managed to survive but has struggled with economic decline and unemployment ever since.

But like many Durham mining communities it has suddenly found itself attracting people from the opposite end of the country as councils in the south look to rehouse people as cheaply as possible.

A pile of debris in Eldon Lane. A resident said: ‘It could be so much better with a bit of investment. We have housing associations who are content to leave rows of houses boarded up instead of repairing them and finding tenants’ 

Durham’s Labour MP Mary Kelly Foy added: ‘It’s absolutely abhorrent that London authorities are not only discharging their duties by relocating people out of London, away from any support network they may have in place, they are placing vulnerable families in properties that are simply not fit for habitation.

‘Stories of families moving into properties lacking basic provisions such as gas, electricity or being completely unfurnished are heartbreaking, and is an absolute dereliction of duty by the London authorities engaged in what appears to be little more than social cleansing.

‘There is not only a risk that these people will fall through the cracks, they appear to be being wilfully put at risk simply for expedience.’

Cllr Alan Shield, Durham County Council’s cabinet member for equality and inclusion, said: ‘We pride ourselves on being part of a welcoming and inclusive county and as a council we take a compassionate approach to anyone who is vulnerable or displaced.

‘This includes taking part in government refugee resettlement programmes through which we provide support to those who need it, although it is worth stressing the number of people we agree to help is proportionate to the size of our population.

‘It’s also worth noting that where people have been given leave by the government to stay in the UK, it is their right to resettle where they like following their initial supported placement.

A bordered up home in Eldon Lane. The crime has reached a point where it is now out of control, according to some

‘We are aware that some London councils have offered their residents private tenancies in other parts of the country, including in the North East.

‘These arrangements are made directly between the councils in question and private sector landlords and are not something that we are involved in, nor are they something we condone.’

A spokesperson for Arriva North East said: ‘During the course of the last year, there have been episodes of anti-social behaviour along that route, which unfortunately meant we had to stop running buses at certain times to keep our staff and customers safe.

‘An action group, which we took part in with the police and local authority, had a positive impact and behaviour along that route in Eldon Lane and improved.

‘Sadly, our staff, customers and vehicles are often on the receiving end of anti-social behaviour which means we have to temporarily pull our services and that’s not fair on anyone. We should not have to ask people to stop behaving in a dangerous manner, but unfortunately we do.’