i used to live in torquay ,devon the english riviera ......that was well before the fucking scum ,and dirtbags moved in......... like everywhere else ......... they fuck shit up ....... look at london ........ filthy dirty bastards ....... ......should just pick them up ...... jail them......... until they get shit straight .........maybe i am too severe ........ if you stick in solitary for a month....... they will get their shit together .....i think the govt needs to start like a foreign legion again sort these fuckers out ..torquay was incredible in the 80's i had a blast .......
WITH its dramatic coastline, palm tree-lined promenade and yachts bobbing in the blue waters of its harbour, it’s easy to see why millions of visitors a year are drawn to the pretty town of Torquay.
But despite being a tourist magnet, the English Riviera destination is gripped by a housing crisis, sky-rocketing crime figures and an ever widening rich-poor divide, with some of the poorest areas in the country.
Its streets, parks and churchyards are home to dozens of rough sleepers, while locals tell of the town centre going downhill, with open drug deals and increasing violence driving them away.
At the last count in November, a total of 29 street sleepers were recorded, enduring sickening abuse at the hands of lowlife passers-by, including being urinated on, spat at, attacked and having drinks poured on them as they doze.
Most are local people who’ve fallen on hard times, with the town’s housing stock only eight per cent social housing, compared to a nationwide average of 17 per cent.
Retired builder Michael Denton was walking his mini–Schnauzer Wolfie in the town and said: “There are a lot of homeless people here and you can notice the increase, but they’re not the ones causing the town to go downhill.
“There’s a lot of crime here. There was a stabbing not long ago and someone got attacked with a hammer. I didn’t see it happen, I was there shortly after and police had cordoned off the area, there was blood all over the streets.
“Then there’s the drug deals you see happening all the time. I see people on spice turn into zombies and collapse in the street – they cause problems everywhere they go.
“It makes me want to move away from Torquay to be honest, its just got steadily worse over the years.”
A quick walk around the town revealed the pungent aroma of cannabis, as well as the discovery of drug paraphernalia under a tree in a churchyard – a discarded hypodermic needle package, lids from needles and a singed spoon-shaped implement.
Groups of homeless and hostel dwellers gathered around the notorious Factory Row, the street in the Castle Circus area of Torquay, which is home to the 29-bed Leonard Stocks hostel.
As we passed by the entrance to the street and gazed at the multi-coloured artwork on the hostel walls, a woman stopped us and said: “You don’t want to go down there, it’s scary. I would keep walking if I were you.”
Local man Paul Sierzega, 70, is a retired engineer, who was sat on a bench enjoying the sunshine.
He says: “It’s not surprising crime has increased, the town is renowned for drugs and alcohol problems, you just have to look around. You see people who look a bit worse for wear and know it’s because drugs are going on.
“It’s a shame because there were some refurbishments in the town a couple of decades ago, but shops are shutting, there’s anti-social behaviour and it’s really changed.
“In the eighties, nineties and 2000s it was so nice here, but it really has gone downhill. It used to be the place to be, now it’s the place not to be.”
Most recent crime statistics show there were a total of 164 crimes reported in April this year, up from 133 in April 2025.
Recent crime reports also show possession of weapons crimes have increased by 29 per cent year-on-year.
Outside the local YMCA shop homeless land artist Jappa, real name Juston Pardon, 55, deftly weaves flax leaves into stunning bouquet’s of roses, selling them to raise money for the charity.
After a challenging childhood, he has been homeless for 30 years and channels his creative energy into making art with natural, organic materials he forages.
He said: “I’m nomadic but I’m also homeless and I sleep in a tent along the coastal path where it’s nice and quiet and nobody bothers me. I come into town each day to sell my art. I studied Buddism so I like to give back and helping others, showing kindness is better than all the drugs in the world.
“I’ve had my work shown in Torre Abbey in an exhibition this year called If Words Were Seeds, and it ran between January and March.
“I’m very much part of the community in Torquay but I don’t drink alcohol or take drugs, which the majority of the homeless do.
“The main problem here is heroin, it’s cheap at £10 a bag and it comes down from Manchester and through Brixham harbour.”
One homeless man who was with his partner, carrying a folded tent and sleeping bags said: “We can’t leave our things as they’ll get slashed or stolen, and we’ve been lucky that a hostel lets us sleep in their doorway, which is safer for us.
“They don’t mind as long as we clear our stuff up. It’s better sleeping there because if you’re on the streets you get attacked all the time.
What to do if you're made homeless
In England, your council must help if you’re legally homeless or will become homeless within the next 8 weeks.
You may be legally homeless if:
- you’ve no legal right to live in accommodation anywhere in the world
- you cannot get into your home, for example your landlord has locked you out
- it’s not reasonable to stay in your home, for example you’re at risk of violence or abuse
- you’re forced to live apart from your family or people you normally live with because there’s no suitable accommodation for you
- you’re living in very poor conditions such as overcrowding
There are different types of support your council could offer you. For example, they may offer you advice, emergency housing, support to find longer-term housing or help so you can stay in your home.
If you are looking for advice you can contacting housing charity Shelter for advice, Citizen Legal Advice for a legal aid, and speak to your local council for help.
“We’ve been homeless three years since we lost of our home – you just get used to it.”
The annual rough sleeping ‘snapshot’ counts the number of people sleeping or ‘bedding down’ on the streets, in parks, makeshift shelters or tents, but does not include those in hostels. In 2022 it sat at 20, while the latest count, in November 2025, was 29.
Poverty sits alongside affluency in Torbay, the area made up of Torquay alongside Brixham and Paignton. Last month it was ranked the most deprived upper-tier local authority in the southwest.
A state of the nation report found an 11-year life expectancy gap between the poorest residents in areas like central Torquay and Tormohun and those in the posher, more wealthy areas like Wellswood, the town’s ‘millionaire’s row’, where houses are worth an average of £1.7 million.
In the more deprived areas residents suffer with sub-standard housing conditions, high levels of unemployment and a reliance on low seasonal wages which are £6,000 less than the national average.
It is these challenges which have led to an increase in those sleeping on the streets, according to Friends of Factory Row chairman Nick Pannell, a volunteer and retired journalist and social worker.
He said: “I’ve been involved in supporting homeless people for 30 years, and certainly I’ve seen the crisis worsen. Social stresses in society are deepening, more people are falling out of the system, the level of mental health crisis is increasing.
“Torbay has a high level of deprivation within the community. The centre of Torquay ticks all the boxes in terms of poverty in needing government support and needing extra help in terms of people who are restructuring financially, people already living in very poor standard accommodation and low levels of social housing, which is causing life-changing issues.
“Leonard Stock Hostel (Factory Row) has 29 beds and is always full, and there’s a waiting list. It’s for people with a local connection or fleeing domestic violence and the team meets once a week to consider who is the most vulnerable person on the street at that time.”
A team of volunteers offer advice, support, games nights and meals to those staying in the hostel. Rent is usually paid for with housing benefit.
It also keeps them safe from the shocking attacks street sleepers are exposed to.
Nick said: “How other people treat them is one of the shocking things of being homeless, in Torbay or anywhere else. Homeless people seek to hide away so they are invisible to any thug or group of lads who are out just to have a bit of fun and taunt them and attack them. I know homeless people who have been urinated on and spat at, had bottles of drink poured over them while they were while they’re sleeping at 2am in the morning.
“Those who aren’t hiding away are especially vulnerable because they will probably have severe mental health problems, and they really aren’t organized enough to find somewhere safe.
“Some people think there shouldn’t be a homeless hostel in Torquay, but the people living there are from our own community.
“They are, sons and daughters, fathers and mothers who are having a huge crisis in their life. You don’t become homeless because you’ve lost your house keys – you become homeless because of family breakup, because of dependency on drugs and alcohol, or severe mental disorder that makes it impossible to sustain the tendency of family connections, or social connections that insulate the rest of us from a crisis of homelessness.
“We need to try to build empathy and then become part of a solution.
Just offering a smile or offering to get someone a cup of tea or a cup of coffee in the morning can transform that person’s day.
“These people are our neighbours, just in the same way as the person next door is my neighbour. That person’s just sleeping in your street, in the bit of park land, or in the bus shelter, we should consider them our neighbour and have, responsibilities towards them.”
This week the Government repealed the Vagrancy Act, ending almost 200 years of legislation which made it a criminal act to sleep on the streets or beg.
Nick Pannell added: “No one should be persecuted by the state or anybody else for being homeless. It’s taken a while for them to realise, you become homeless because of severe underlying issues.”
The Sun has contacted Torbay Council and Devon and Cornwall police for comment.
