The Dalgarno Estate

At 1pm during the school holidays the Dalgarno Estate is eerily deserted despite a population of around 1,000 children and teenagers. There are no youngsters playing on the fenced-off basketball court or in the playgrounds which contain brightly coloured slides and swings.

Staff at the local youth club are baffled as to where they are and suggest they are inside playing computer games or hanging out in nearby parks.

The well-maintained Dalgarno neighbourhood with its ranks of red brick Thirties flats doesn't feel threatening but it is one of the worst housing ghettos in Britain. The reason for this is the level of youth crime.

Cannabis, Ecstasy and crack cocaine are prevalent and locals cite two gangs who cause most of the trouble. One "crew", of about 20, and aged 18-20, drive fast cars but don't have jobs and the other, on average four or five years younger, try to emulate them.

"We have children as young as five, six or seven trying to copy 15-year-olds and they are becoming drug runners because they know they can't be prosecuted if they are under 10," said Julia Walton, the senior youth worker at the Feathers Club Association.

"Most of the crime is low-level stuff. Nuisance crimes I call it but they add up and we are finding now that many of the teenagers who have been caught are now being put away." Car and moped thefts, burglaries, assaults, muggings, domestic violence and disorder are the most common offences.

However, police and residents' groups believe three-quarters of crime goes unreported due to intimidation and fear of retribution against "grasses". Between October 1998 and August 1999 police logged 154 calls complaining of disorder, 77 assaults and threats (including sexual), 47 break-ins, 46 thefts and robberies, 39 domestic attacks, 17 racial or homo-phobic incidents, 26 car crime offences and 60 of criminal damage out of a population of 3,200.

The Crime and Disorder Audit revealed a rate of calls for assistance of 75 per 1,000 residents in Kensington and Chelsea but the rate in Dalgarno was more than 150 per 1,000. The report also said the teenagers were involved in gang fighting, bullying, harassment and abuse. Some feel the recent rape of a woman nearby was inevitable.

"Children here have a shocking attitude towards women," says Ms Walton. "One night we had a fashion show and some of the girls were beaten up afterwards just for taking part."

"We are alert to the groups and we have had young boys throwing girls on the floor and doing mock rapes as others watch. We also have children who have killed or have the potential to kill.

"It is down to a lack of parental control. Some kids have no ability to identify between right and wrong."

"The staff here have had death threats and consequently there is a high turnover. The only people they respect are people who hit them hard. Their idea of respect is fear." Many residents feel the estate is isolated and neglected. Poor transport links don't help. Official reports tell of teenagers who have never been on the Tube - they don't like to leave their "patch".

Steven, 14, says they don't go out to cause trouble but always do. "We're easily led and when there are a group of us things happen. If I see a tramp walking down the road I'll terrorise him." Smiling he adds: "I haven't got a criminal record - I've been not guilty, not guilty, not guilty."

The first tentative steps towards improvements are being taken. The youth centre is investing £42,000 in a recording studio and uniting older and younger community members to prepare a float for Notting Hill Carnival.

Ms Walton says: "It was easy identifying 50 young people and this positive contribution will help us help them."