Inside UK’s ‘Red Light District’ Where People Have Sex In Gardens And Rats Do Backflips

Life in Huddersfield's red light zone is certainly a unique one where people apparently like to have sex in gardens.

Friends Matthew and David live in Fartown and have dubbed the town as being 'cushty', 'nice' and 'friendly'.

Their only complaint is the sheer number of rats that like to make themselves seen.

Matthew admits to letting out a scream as a rat once touched his leg.The 27-year-old bricklayer said: "It wasn't nice. I was sitting on the back step when the rat jumped up, did a back flip and went back the way it came. It caught the back of my leg. I jumped up and screamed."

David, 32, a labourer, says: "It's nice around here - I love it. Everyone says hello and is friendly."

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They say their street 'comes alive' on a Friday and can be noisy all weekend with people shouting and cars screeching, but they don't mind too much.

Notably, they haven't yet seen any evidence of the sex workers that other residents have been complaining about.

However, other locals beg to differ.

One young man, who lives just off Alder Street, spots sex workers 'almost every day' in a hidden snicket near his house.

The unnamed resident said: "They approach me in my car and ask if I want any business. Mostly they are around from 11:00pm. They visit the 24-hour shop for cigs and booze and then go to Alder Street, passing our house. You can hear them arguing and shouting."

He added: "I once saw a prostitute doing business in my gran's garden. It was quite a few years ago now."

But it's the fly-tippers and the sky-high car insurance premiums that are his main concerns. He installed his own CCTV to deter fly-tipping and it worked a treat, he says.

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"We've had them a good few years. Before we put them in we had all sorts going on - people scratching cars and prostitutes doing business in people's gardens. Everyone knows about the cameras now. But at the bottom (of Alder Street) there are no cameras and they are not afraid. Even dummy cameras work. People don't want to be caught on camera and named and shamed. Everyone got together and put CCTV up."

Although, his mate doesn't seem to agree and says: "It's alright. It's a good community with shops. People come home and chill out."

Resident Shivon Murray, who has lived just off Alder Street for 11 years, said: "It's improved a lot. Prostitutes are not hanging around so much anymore. There is litter - crisp packets mainly - but everybody cleans the street up themselves."

One woman, who has lived in Fartown all her life, said that the number of sex workers had reduced greatly since the Covid-19 pandemic.

She added: "We keep ourselves to ourselves. It is kind of divided - we don't really talk to anyone in the terraces."

Saadi Haidary, owner of the Kobane restaurant which opened 12 years ago, said he enjoyed working in Fartown.

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"The restaurant is doing really good; it is busy. We open from 12.30pm to 10:00pm.

"I have been here since 1999. We are getting on very well with the community, it is a fantastic community. We are getting on with all nations.

"We have Albanians, Syrians, Polish, Hungarians, Romanians and English. We have a five star food hygiene rating."