Ex-gangster visits Lancaster's 'roughest' estate and is stunned by what he sees

A housing estate in Lancaster has been described as “Britain’s version of the Bronx” by some of its locals. Built in the then-fashionable Brutalist style in the 1960s, the tower blocks of Mainway at Skerton have been marked for demolition and replacement.

Podcaster and former gangster Billy Moore, who was locked up in 22 prisons over 25 years, visited the estate on his YouTube channel. He met Anne-Marie, who is a recovering heroin addict, and told him the area is “a s***hole”. Local pub Royal Oak has seen better days, with its dilapidated facade, and windows replaced with metal sheeting. It’s a bleak environment, with signs of neglect and decay everywhere.

One bright spot is an MMA training gym. The former pub was converted by former BAMMA champ Shay Walsh in hope of giving something back to his community. He offers free classes to Under-18s, hoping to give them some sort of purpose and keeping them off the streets.

Billy said: "This little gym, this little MMA gaff on Mainway is like a little oasis in the middle of the Bronx. I've just been speaking to one of the owners and he said 'if the kids keep out of trouble and have got no money then we let them come in.

"But the minute they get in trouble we f*** them off. They won't have to pay as long as they keep their head above water, that's brilliant stuff."

But elsewhere, Mainway and the rest of Skerton, on the north side of Lancaster, things don't look good. Abandoned cars and litter seem to be everywhere, in Billy's footage. Although he did spot one out-of-place detail. "Every mad estate you go on there’s a speedboat. They’ve definitely been on Bullseye,” he joked.

Speedboats aside, there’s a general air of quiet desperation. One local homeless man told Billy he had been in an horrific road accident but was simply patched up and sent back out to fend for himself. He explained: “I’m still sleeping on the streets and I’ve still got these broken ribs, “ he said. “I’m in f*****g agony – what am I supposed to do?”

Throughout the area, boarded-up windows and graffiti-covered walls drive home the message of long-term neglect. “This place looks dark, it looks austere, and I don't think the brickwork brightens the place up,” Billy said.

Mainway has been the scene of more than one violent incident recently. In March, a woman was dragged behind a thug’s car as he kidnapped her child. Attacker Stephen Smith then drove off towards Blackpool, telling the terrified child: "This is the last time you'll see your mum." The woman was left lying in the road, with five fractured vertebrae and other injuries.

Smith has been jailed for 21 years with a five year extended licence after a judge ruled that he was a danger to the public.