Brighton city council speak on couple's sex alley hell

The Argus contacted Brighton and Hove City Council after Hughie and Chris O’Neill described the extreme anti-social behaviour outside their home for two years.

They have witnessed people defecating, urinating, and even having sex outside their door, and have been asking Brighton and Hove City Council for help.

Hughie and Chris O'Neill from Pool Passage are calling for each end of the alley to be gated

Businesses and residents in the area are sick of the misuse of the passageway, and have been calling for each end to be gated.

After being contacted by The Argus, the council has issued a statement.

“We are looking at the possibility of putting a gate at one end of Pool Passage, and we'll keep exploring this and its implications. But no decisions have been taken so far,” said a council spokesman.

“We are unable by law to gate both ends of Pool Passage as it is a public highway with residential properties leading onto it.

“We are very sorry about the ongoing problems Mr O’Neill has been experiencing, and have been in touch with him to discuss possible ways forward.”

Mr O’Neill disputes that the city council has been in contact to discuss resolutions to the sickening anti-social behaviour.

“No spokesman has been in touch with us. I’ve written letters to Caroline Lucas, and head of the council Phelim Mac Cafferty, and they just passing it back to the police,” said Mr O’Neill.

“The last thing that we got from the council was that there was no one in the office to look at our situation.”

Mr O’Neill also believes that a gate at just one end of the alleyway would not effectively deter offenders.

“I think it should be both ends,” he said.

The entrance of Pool Passage from Pool Valley

“I also think that you should be able to open and close them, so they’re not locked. You can get in, but it would be a deterrent.

“It would be a fire risk having them locked, so I think just having them there would deter people.”

Though Pool Passage is a public highway, it takes a longer time to walk through the narrow, uneven alleyway, than to use the short pathway in Pool Valley adjacent.

Walls along Pool Passage were recently tagged with a large amount of graffiti. Sussex Police says it is speaking with two people in relation to the graffiti.

“Councils are not responsible for graffiti on private property,” said a council spokesman.

 “But we’re always very happy to work with businesses and individuals and advise them of ways to help prevent graffiti reoccurring on their property.

“We work closely alongside other organisations, such as the police, to tackle anti-social behaviour and ensure information is shared where possible to try to identify suspects.”

The council urges anyone with evidence of graffiti to contact the police.