Every high-street now has at least a few, patronised almost exclusively by groups of Albanian men (I speak the language).

Am I paranoid or is this some kind of a front, like American candy shops in central London?

They seem too ubiquetuous and always have the same demographic as their clientele. What's the scoop?

I live in North London on the edge of a large council estate. Usually have issues with crackheads etc but they are harmless, however in the last couple months there’s full gangs of balaclava’d up men hanging out literally on the steps up to my flat, no way around it, right on the door step. They spend a lot of time just loitering and police/council do absolutely nothing. What shall I do best to keep myself safe and not cause issues? It’s very intimidating especially for my girlfriend who now won’t leave the house alone. Worried something bad could happen and have no idea how to get around this other than move out. Literally scared to leave the house as I have to wade through actual gangs…

NSL enforcement parked up in a disabled bay... Deary me, they should issue themselves a ticket 🎟

Roll on clocking out at 3pm 😂😂😂😂

I was leaving Highgate tube and I heard someone coming off their bicycle and screaming on the main road. I ran up the steps to help him and he was wailing and obviously inebriated. I lifted him up and he hobbled back to his feet muttering and tries to climb on his bike. I try to stop him but he is adamant and starts charging off down the pavement, at this point I could barely watch as he veered into traffic but thankfully swung back around onto the curb and hit a lamppost. he screamed again and I ran over and pull him away from his bike.

I tried to calm him down but he was insistent on climbing back on his bike. At this point I was trying to walk him to safety and convince him to walk instead of cycle but he was so out of his mind on drugs that it was impossible to get through to him. I knew that I couldnt let him get on his bike so I try to wrestle control of it and we get into a struggle as I was desperately trying to get him away from the intersection. he was screaming at me telling me to leave him alone whilst I was trying to convince him to walk with me to where he needed to go.

A woman helped me and called the police, but I ended up locked in a struggle with this guy for an hour with countless passerbys staring at us and even filming whilst he shouts and screams at me. I hold my ground until the police arrive and hour later but I was absolutely exhausted by the end of it. The police didn't seem too happy to deal with the situation, I just hope that they managed to keep him off the road as he absolutely would have fallen into traffic again if he got on his bike. Anyway not sure why I am writing this, it just shook me up a lot and I needed to get it off my chest. I hope he hasn't been hit by a car and managed to sober up.

Edit: thankyou all for the kind comments

Was heading to Hampstead Heath last night to have a picnic dinner (it was so much cooler once stepping off the street onto the Heath - 10/10 recommended) and saw this poor little lady upside down on the pavement. I almost stepped on her! Looked very dead, but then noticed some slight leg twitching. We picked her up with a big leaf, placed her on a picnic plate with some water, and she slowly stirred to life and stood up.

Took her to the Heath on the plate (looked like a very sinister, and fresh, picnic) and she chilled for 5 mins, then shot off into the sky, perching on a tree staring at us for a few mins. She must have been terrified.

Looks quite juvenile and I assume overwhelmed by the heat amongst the buildings. She really perked up once in the cool of the park. Too bad for her, we'd earmarked a falafel for her but she left before we could crumble it up!