This is a rant caused by worry, and I just need to get it out. Feel free to move along without reading or commenting if you'd prefer. As I said, I just need to vent.

A little earlier, I had to call the Police to our building - not for the first time.

There was the sound of at least two males fighting. It was coming from upstairs. There was shouting and swearing and bodies hitting the floor, kicking out, thumping etc.

I called 999 (the number for the emergency services here in the UK) and asked for the Police. For the first time in my life, I was placed on hold by the robot - after having called the emergency number! 999 is reserved for crime/accident/drowning/fire in progress type calls, as it is the number for Fire, Police, Ambulance and Coastguard, so you kinda expect to be answered right away. I was on hold for maybe 2 minutes, although it felt like a lot longer at the time.

Anyway, I explained what we had heard, gave our address etc, and was told Police were en route.

Then an emergency ambulance with 2 paramedics appeared at the building door. This was a surprise. I wondered if the Police routinely inform the ambulance service when they're responding to a fight. The paramedics had no flat number, but were responding to a reported 27 year old male in distress. I let them in and they went upstairs and started knocking on doors.

They left less than 5 minutes later, having been told to "F*** off!" by three single men on the top floor. Charming.

The Police pulled up as the paramedics were leaving. I'm sure they told the officers what happened. The Police came in and spoke with us initially,as I'd made the call. They went upstairs and also came back down within a couple of minutes, having been told to "F*** off!" by the same people. They couldn't do anything else, as they had no crime in progress that they could see, and nobody in that flat complained of a problem.

It will be fairly obvious that it was us who called the Police, so I'm slightly worried we'll get some dirty looks over it - some people are like that.

I also called the landlord and told him what had happened.

But we're a bit worried, maybe even scared. This building has gone downhill in terms of some of the tenants in it during the 3 years we've been here. Also, the landlord is doing less and less maintenance, resulting in a damp problem serious enough to trigger my wife's asthma and make our main living area smell of it.

I wish we could move sooner than next summer, but we just can't afford to. Also, it is proving surprisingly difficult to find somewhere with wheelchair access.

*sigh*

/rant

I will now return you to your regularly scheduled madness.

Thanks. *crooked smile*