I went to Jubilee House to talk to officers at Madeley Parish Council about the appalling state of lighting outside the flats at Villa Court. The inadequacy of the lighting has meant that men have been vandalising our properties – urinating against the wall after visiting the local pubs and causing a general nuisance – not just to me but all of my neighbours – this is why I decided to go to the Parish Council to see what solution could be found. I also organised a petition of local residents and sent it off to the Borough Council.

A worker from the Parish Council looked at the lighting and took pictures and he agreed with me that the lighting was pretty bad. He approached the Borough Council and somebody came to have a look at the lighting problem and then a few weeks later the lights were done.

Now the lighting has been done, I can say, as one of the residents of Villa Court that it is absolutely brilliant – which it is. I’ve had other people come to me and say how good it is too.

We’re also hoping that it will stop all the vandalism with youths throwing stones at windows and garages etc. It was only recently, after coming out of hospital, that a brick came through my window and just missed by head by a split second. Although the police come they can’t do much when the youths are too young to have action taken against them.

This proves that if you put the effort in, you get results. People are very good at moaning to one another, but not good at getting the authorities to address their problems. Often your nuisance is everyone’s nuisance so you will be helping the whole community.