'I fear for my family's safety'

I had taken my seven-year-old son to a delicatessen in Muswell Hill to buy a bagel, his favourite after-school treat. Vaguely aware of a woman brushing against me, seconds later my handbag felt lighter. I looked down to see my bag open and my purse gone. The woman who brushed past me had disappeared and the only other customer was talking to a member of staff.

I had been the victim of a popular scam: one person distracts the only witness while the other makes off with the purse. Torn between chasing the thief and comforting my child, I did what any mother would.

This was the third time in two weeks I had been a victim. Two weeks ago I was in my local post office at 3.20pm when two women came in, speaking very loudly and with deeply offensive language. I turned to see who it was and was surprised to see two young women with babies in pushchairs.

They demanded to know what I was looking at, hurling abuse at me and calling me a "stuck-up white bitch". I ignored them, but one poked her phone in my face and said she would like to smash me in the face. She pushed me against the counter, saying I was a piece of trash.

No one in the post office came to my assistance - I assume they were too frightened. Later, telling my newsagent the story, he said he was regularly threatened and robbed and a colleague in Muswell Hill was stabbed the week before. As I sympathised, my attackers came in. They had put the pushchairs outside the door making it very hard for me to get out. I was angry and frightened.

A week later, a girlfriend and I were intimidated by two men in a local wine bar who stared and sneered at us, getting up to walk past and glare. When we moved to another table they continued.

We wanted to go but feared the men would follow - several of my neighbours have recently been attacked walking the short distance from Muswell Hill Broadway to our road. We told the bar manager and he distracted them while we left. I ran all the way home, shaken and angry two women should have been so intimidated.

When we bought our house 10 years ago we thought this was a nice area full of young families, a lovely place to bring up children. Houses now fetch up to £1 million. But we are now seriously concerned crime is out of control. The police station has been closed and you rarely see an officer on the beat.

Children are regularly mugged on their way home from school. A friend's 13-year-old daughter was robbed of her mobile phone at knifepoint at 3.40pm on a busy street. This week a boy of 11 was beaten by 15-year-olds from his school. It seems everybody you talk to has been a victim of crime.

I reported my stolen purse to police but didn't bother with the other incidents. I know from people who found police take so long to answer calls, never mind turn up, that the perpetrator has long gone. One policeman I spoke to told me crime was out of control in this area and police are so short-staffed and disillusioned they have little hope of seeing an improvement.

I feel we will have to move away as I now genuinely fear for the safety of my family.