IN a takeaway, revellers strip naked while outside party-goers inhale banned canisters of laughing gas and drunk men brawl in the road.
Welcome to Britain’s most dangerous street, where terrified residents claim dealers openly sell zombie drug spice and cocaine in plain sight – and even the local chippies have bouncers.
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By day Duncan Street in Leeds is an ordinary thoroughfare, just a quarter of a mile long, with a smattering of shops, a handful of fast food restaurants and an estate agent.
But come nightfall it’s a “hellhole” where fights are commonplace, drugs are “the norm” and club-goers lie barely conscious on the pavement.
Horror stories abound of women having their drinks spiked on nights out, with one resident who lives a five-minute walk away telling us she will get a cab home at night just to avoid the dangerous strip.
New figures reveal that last year 378 violent crimes or sex offences were reported on or near the street, which has three clubs within throwing distance.
That’s equivalent to one crime every 23 hours – worse than in East London.
Local Julian Bryan, a 35-year-old postman, said: “The weekends are especially nuts.
“There are people openly taking balloon canisters at the bus stops, drivers speeding in circuits around the street in fancy cars, most likely selling drugs, and drunk people everywhere.”
Landlord Kevin Baimbridge has had his pub windows put in several times at The Duncan – and claims dealers openly sell spice and cocaine on the street.
He took us to the rear of his pub where two clubs, Space and Ultra and trendy bar The End sit within yards of each other.
Umbrellas and fiesta-style decorations strung up between the bars lie tattered on the floor and Kevin says he is regularly kept awake by banging music until 4am.
He said: “The police are often here asking for CCTV because there are so many violent incidents on the street.
“Nobody seems to care about drugs and dealers sell spice and white powder openly on the street. Balloon canisters and smashed bottles are littered about everywhere and we’ve had our windows smashed.
“It’s wild around here – a real eye-opener.”
Surrounded by clubs and pubs, the street is en route to a train station and has a McDonald’s on an adjoining road – creating the perfect storm for potential problems.
In January 2023, shocking images showed TV presenter Helen Skelton recoiling in horror after a bottle was thrown at her during a 3am street brawl just around the corner from Duncan Street.
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Helen, who had been partying with Strictly pals, including Paralympian Ellie Simmonds and singer Molly Rainford, hid in an alley until cops arrived.
The nightlife is so violent that even takeaways hire bodyguards.
One worker told The Sun: “There’s police and ambulances out all the time.
I live five minutes away and never walk home at night – what does that tell you?
Duncan, street shop worker
“A lot of the nonsense is just drunks having a good time but there’s a real sinister side to it all too.
“I’ve seen people unconscious on the floor and urinating in alleyways.
“There’s also a homeless hostel on the street so there’s a lot of begging too.
“It can be a hellhole at night.”
Smash & grab
Brendan Liddiard, 28, who also works in a takeaway, told how opportunist thieves carry out ‘smash and grab’ raids.
He said: “People come in and put down their mobile phones or bags and thieves run in and grab them.
“We’ve also had cases of drunk men stripping down to their pants or taking their tops off. Men in Leeds seem to like getting naked.
“Duncan Street is a kind of crossroads for nightlife with people spilling out of pubs and clubs or walking to the train station.
I was walking down here with my girlfriend. We heard shouting and screaming. We looked over and saw someone in the street bleeding.
Dan, student
“I used to work in York where there are lots of stag dos but it’s definitely worse here.”
Young women told The Sun how they enjoy nights out in the area – but are too scared to walk alone.
One was assaulted outside McDonald’s but said she was too traumatised to speak to us while another told us: “I work here and only live five minutes away but I always get a taxi home, so what does that tell you?”
Nursing student Scarlet Kirshaw, 18, who is studying in Leeds, said she had heard stories of women having their drinks spiked in and around the street.
She said: “I’ll come here if I’m on a night out with other people but I’d never walk around here by myself.”
Horror attack
Last year, Spanish student Dan Zile told how he saw someone stabbed on Duncan Street.
Dan, 19, told Leeds Live: “I was walking down here with my girlfriend. We heard shouting and screaming. We looked over and saw someone in the street bleeding.
“Then security took the stabber and called an ambulance to come.”
Many daytime workers were shocked at the statistics as the area appears like any other typical city centre street in daylight.
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David Burrel, 61, who works at a vintage clothes store, said: “We get the odd shoplifter in here but other than that I’ve not seen much trouble at all.
“I’m really surprised at those figures but maybe it’s because there’s so many pubs and clubs in the area.”
Duncan Street and surrounding roads have seen more crime than East London where Redbridge comes second on the list of most dangerous places in Britain.
We’ve also had cases of drunk men stripping down to their pants or taking their tops off. Men in Leeds seem to like getting naked.
Brendan, takeaway worker
The area has seen 333 incidents of violence or sex offences – equal to one every 26 hours.
Third on the list, compiled using police data, is the area around Genyn Road in Guildford’s Onslow Village and University area. Surrey police said it is close to a hospital where people may report crimes which took place elsewhere
Nationwide, 1.6 million brutal offences were committed on the streets of England and Wales last year. The statistics include common assault, causing bodily harm, rape and sex attacks.
Crime-hit Britain
Figures in April reveal how crime is on the rise in the UK – and the shoplifting epidemic is its worst in 20 years.
Figures show almost 1,200 cases of shop thefts being reported every day — up by a third in a year.
Last year there were 430,104 shoplifting cases reported, up from 315,040 in 2022 and the highest since records began in 2003.
Annual crime figures from the Office for National Statistics show that thefts rose by 18 per cent to 125,563 and robberies increased 13 per cent to 81,094.
Gun crimes rose nine per cent to 6,367 and knife crime was up seven per cent to 49,489.
Inspector Natasha Tierney, who heads the Leeds city neighbourhood police team, said: “Duncan Street is at the heart of the city centre and the term ‘on or near’ will cover a significant proportion of the city’s night-time economy venues that surround it, which attract very high footfall and a higher likelihood of these types of offences.
“We work closely with our partner agencies and licensees to keep people safe in the city centre and have a specific operation in place every weekend to target increased resources into the area.
“We also continue to run proactive operations in the city centre to target street-level drug dealing and the carrying of knives and maintain our specific focus on working to prevent violence against women and girls.
Read more on the Scottish Sun
“We have our own intelligence specialists who analyse in detail where offences are occurring and identify any patterns so we can put longer-term problem-solving work in place.”
Councillor Mary Harland, Leeds City Council’s executive member for communities, customer service and community safety, said most of the offences were low level and “violent crime and sex-related offences account for a very small proportion of the offences committed.”
