A CARETAKER at a block of flats was stabbed in the neck with a hypodermic needle.

The 40-year-old Windsor Court warden, known as “Mo”, fell to the floor in a stairwell as his attackers ran off but raised the alarm by banging on a nearby flat window.

The woman living there rushed to his aid, calling police and ambulance services to the high-rise block of emergency accommodation bedsits in Windsor Street, Brighton.

Residents say they are “living in fear” after the attack and blamed lax security measures.

The 39-year-old mother, who asked not to be named, said: “It’s lucky he caught my attention or I don’t know if he would still be here.

“I was told the syringe had substance in it. There was a stabbing last summer, it’s not safe and children live here. We find needles lying around, sometimes you walk to the lift and people are sat by them shooting up. We have been here since April and are still on the housing list. We can’t go on like this.”

Brighton and Hove City Council pays the property owners Baron Homes to operate the premises. The council places homeless people in the flats temporarily until they can be moved into sheltered housing.

A 68-year-old disabled neighbour, who asked to remain anonymous, said: “The door is always wide open, anyone can wander in. There is a security code but it never gets changed and everyone knows it.

“There is one CCTV camera and it doesn’t work. People come in to pick up drugs. I am so frightened and you live in fear for who will get attacked next. I am scared my carers could get hurt.”

A Baron Homes spokesman said they were taking the attack “very seriously”. He said new security measures, including more working CCTV cameras, were being introduced soon. The spokesman said it had made the council aware of a number of incidents at the site.

A council spokesman said: “In our view the security at Windsor Court is usually good. Only residents can access the building although residents can let in their visitors. We are aware there was an incident on Tuesday but have no further details at this stage.”

An Argus reporter found the front door open when we visited.

A police spokesman said: “The caretaker reported one of two men, with whom he had been in an altercation, had pricked his skin in the neck with a needle. A needle was found at the scene and police have taken possession of it. The matter is under investigation and the full circumstances have not yet been established.”

The caretaker was discharged from hospital the same day and is understood to be on leave from work while he recovers.

Any witnesses or anyone with information about the attack shortly after 2pm on Tuesday can call Sussex police on 101.