19-05-2025
Families living on road where Fred and Rose West carried out their crimes say area is still plagued by stigma and antisocial behaviour
Residents living on the street where notorious serial killers Fred and Rose West committed their crimes say it is still riddled with stigma and antisocial behaviour.
The house of horrors at 25 Cromwell Street was demolished—but for some of those who remain, the emotional and mental scars are as strong as ever.
The monsters murdered at least 12 young women and girls between 1967 and 1987.
Many of the crimes took place at their home in Gloucester, but all that is left is the space for an alleyway leading into the city centre.
But locals say there is still a 'stigma' associated with the street, and feel local authorities 'should have done more' to support those left behind.
And fears were also expressed that the street attracts antisocial behaviour and trouble due to its notoriety.
Polly Lowthian, 27, working in a supported living home, moved to her house in Cromwell Street earlier this year.
Her property is next door to the alleyway where the 'Horror House' was located.
She said before moving there she was 'a bit sceptical' but then didn't want to be 'too picky' of where to live.
Polly added: 'If it had happened recently I probably wouldn't have moved in but as it happened years ago I think that is probably why I decided to move there.
'There is always going to be stigma around the street because of what happened.
'On this street some people pass and they point the alleyway and be like "there is where Fred West used to live".
'Once you have got a big story obviously people are going to find it a bit scary.'
Another resident on Cromwell Street, aged 54, was in his early teens when the chilling case happened.
He remembers seeing Fred in his working clothes as he was the local builder in the street working in 'many houses'.
He was friends with Fred and Rose's son Stephen West and knew the family.
The man said it was a 'shock' when the mass murders were exposed.
He said: 'I knew the family, I've lived in this street for 40 years. I knew the son as he was a friend in the street.
'The children of the family we grew up here and most of us played in the street.
'They seemed like a tight-knit family. They would go to the park to play as a family with the kids. It was a complete shock. At that age you don't think what people might be doing behind close doors.'
The man he would play with on the street—Stephen West was jailed in December 2004 for nine months for sex with a girl of 14.
He added: 'At times I knocked on their door to call for my friend Steve. We used to fix and repair cars in the back.
'Not great things happened to Steve. I suspect he was very close to his dad like I was to my dad. I wonder what he went through.'
The resident said since the case took place it has had a 'massive impact' on the people that still reside on the street.
He hoped the local authorities did more to support the locals.
He said: 'There has been a lot of publicity of it around the world, which is understandable, but I don't think much is being done to support people living in this street.
'There is a lot of antisocial behaviour around the area and there is a stigma attached to it. There is a lot of bad publicity around this area in general.
'I think they have neglected the area - there is trouble and anti social behaviour.
'It has painted the area in a bad light.'
Reacting to the documentary in Gloucester today, Morgan Dickenson, 22, studying veterinary nursing at University of Gloucestershire said the new Netflix documentary about the duo was 'good' but 'freaky' as she lives half a mile away from where the murders took place
He said most of the properties on the street are now HMOs or bed sits and he will eventually leave the street.
The man added: 'These were all family homes at the time. Most of these properties are HMOs, with HMOs it brings a certain area down. There is no community spirit and neighbourhood spirit.'
Chrysoula Koutsogranni, 40, who is on universal credit, said she was not aware of the crimes committed on the 25 Cromwell Street when she moved in four years ago.
She said: 'I have learnt about it a couple of years ago after Covid when a couple came here and they were asking questions about it and then I went online and I found out.
'You can't predict what your neighbour is. You don't know who lives next door - even now someone could be doing something behind close doors and you wouldn't know.
'The area is mostly an immigrant area and one bed apartments. It is not the best but I've not experienced any real incidents like crime or anything like that.'
She admitted that despite the horrors that happened in her street she is 'not scared' of living on that road.
She said: 'I don't know what it was back then but it has not been scary for me to live here. I have my whole family here, they live in different places around Gloucester. I don't feel scared about going out at night.
'If you deal with people that do bad stuff you are going to have problems if you are just minding your own business nothing happens.'
Netflix's new documentary, Fred and Rose West: A British Horror Story, features previously unseen police footage and unheard audio recordings, providing fresh insights into their case.
Reacting to the documentary in Gloucester today, Morgan Dickenson, 22, studying veterinary nursing at University of Gloucestershire said the documentary 'was good' but 'freaky' as she lives half a mile away from where the murders took place.
She said: 'I think it sucks that he died before he could actually be brought to trial. It seems like he got away with it because he killed himself.
'When you see other murder documentaries they are like 'oh my god I feel so disgusted that I killed someone and they are under the patio and he was just like 'oh yeah there is a body under the patio'.
'You see on the Gloucester Police page there's girls going missing all the time.'
Pictured, the victims, from left to right, Ann McFall, Catherine 'Rena' Costello, Charmaine West, Lynda Gough, Carole Ann Cooper, Lucy Partington, Therese Siegenthaler, Shirley Hubbard, Juanita Mott, Shirley Anne Robinson, Alison Chambers, Heather Wes
Juliet Dobell, 21, studying veterinary nursing at University of Gloucestershire said: 'The documentary was so interesting. It took them so long to find him and then do something about it.
About Gloucester she said: 'There is a lot of fights, a lot of arguments and a lot of crime going on.
'We don't really leave the house at night - there is a lot of drunk people, people doing drugs.'
Derek Rees, 73, a window cleaner, who lives in Gloucester and works in Cromwell Street, said he first remembers meeting Fred when he was working at a pub.
He said: 'When I was 16 or 17 Fred didn't use to live here he lived in Midland Road and he used to go to the pub and I was working shift work.
'At them days pub would shut at 10.30pm so my wife used to go over there and get a couple of drinks. She said to me one day before this already happened she said 'I don't know about that Fred West he is a bloody weird git'.
'I remember 12 months before he got caught he went to court for sexual abuse and you know what happened? He got found not guilty.
'When he was at the pub he was like 'I told you so' with a smirk on his face. He said 'I told you I wasn't guilty' and then somebody hit him because they knew what he was like.'
Derek said that despite this he was surprised when he got done for the murders.
He said: 'If he had got done for rape and all of that I wouldn't have been surprised because that's the kind of bloke he was.
'It was all over the papers - Gloucester was famous for it. In all fairness when you mention Gloucester to people they don't mention the cathedral they say 'oh that bloody Fred place' - it is horrible isn't it.'
