When Lisa Tutte-Scali swapped her home in a peaceful market town in Devon for a flat in Brighton, she had no idea it would be the biggest mistake of her life.

Within four days of moving in, her dream home was burgled while her boxes were still being unpacked. Days later her car windscreen was smashed.

The gentle sound of West Country birdsong has been replaced by the constant blaring of police sirens, breaking glass and neighbours brawling.

Lisa, 26, said: "I have never experienced anything like it. I can't sleep, I don't want to go out and when I do my stomach churns when I come back.

"I was so excited when I got somewhere to live in Brighton. Now it has turned into a complete and utter nightmare."

Lisa grew up in Newton Abbot, Devon, but lived in Honiton, which has a population of about 18,000.

It has the odd spot of trouble, usually at weekends when people have had too much to drink, but Lisa said it was generally quiet and safe.

She was given a council flat in Devon after putting her name on the council list at the age of 16. She later did a degree in media arts and popular culture at the University of Plymouth in Exeter.

She decided to improve her chances of getting a media-related job by moving out of Devon and studying a postgraduate diploma in digital media arts at the University of Brighton.

When she started the course in September last year she was sleeping on a friend's floor three nights a week, then returning home.

The travelling became too much so she applied for a direct transfer out of her flat in Devon to one in Brighton.

She was given a one-bedroom flat in Birdham Road, Moulsecoomb, by Brighton and Hove City Council.

Lisa, who works in a pub in Hove to help pay for her studies, said: "I came up to look at the flat before I moved in.

"It was horrible but I thought if I turned it down my chances of being offered something else were small.

"It looked like a squat. There was all this rubbish in the garden, which the council said it would sort out.

"When I was in Devon I was living in a low-rise flat with a warden. Although the warden wasn't for me, it was very peaceful and there were a lot of old people about."

Lisa accepted the flat and moved in on April 6.

Within four days thieves kicked her back door in and ransacked her unpacked boxes.

Lisa said: "I had gone out to pick up a friend at about 3.30pm.

"I wanted to show her my new flat but 25 minutes later I came back and I had been burgled.

"They must have watched me and waited for me to go out."

The thieves stole her computer zip-drive, cash and other items. The police took fingerprints but she has not heard anything since.

One Friday night Lisa was at home when she heard a smashing sound.

She said: "I had a feeling something had happened to my car but I was too frightened to go out. The next day my neighbour came to the door and told me to come outside.

"There were footprints all over the bonnet and the windscreen was smashed in."

A short time later a young boy came to her door and told her he had broken the window and it had been an accident.

She said: "I hate it. I wish I had never moved. I woke up the other morning to hear more smashing.

"The police were here clamping vehicles without tax and towing cars.

"One of the neighbours decided that if they were going to take his car, he would wreck it first."

Lisa said her neighbours were surprised she had been located in Moulsecoomb, where everyone already knew each other.

She said: "One of my neighbours told me to get out if I could."

Lisa, who has become so upset she has visited her doctor, said: "I am worried for my health and state of mind.

"I have moved from a very peaceful, quiet life and have been subjected to violent behaviour, theft and victimisation in only six weeks of living here.

"I came here to study to further my career and start a new life. The council should never have put me in this place."

Moulsecoomb is among the most run-down areas in Brighton and Hove. In 2000 the Government recognised this and awarded east Brighton, which includes Mousecoomb, £47.2 million to be spent over ten years to improve education, employment, health and community safety.

Eb4u, the organisation behind the regeneration scheme, has been keen to highlight the improvements to the communities since it began working to improve the area.

But some residents believe little has changed and fear once the cash has run out the estates will be back to where they started.

Senior police officers recently revealed there were 1,088 fewer crimes last year in the east sector, which includes Moulsecoomb, compared with 2002/03 - a record drop of 12 per cent.

In comparison, the west and central sectors of Brighton and Hove experienced an increase in recorded crime.

But the figures offer little comfort to Lisa, who has now asked the council for a transfer.

A council spokesman said: "Housing staff are concerned Ms Tutte-Scali has had difficulties settling into her flat and extra security measures are being fitted at the property because of her concerns.

"We would advise her to contact her housing officer directly with any other concerns to enable us to investigate them.

"Housing officers and the community safety team are working closely with police to tackle incidents of crime and anti-social behaviour in Moulsecoomb, as they are in other parts of the city."