Does Filey have problems?

A very glowing review but visitors to filey should be warned that they are at extreme risk of being attacked, threatend, spat at etc by the hoards of young yobs and thugs that have taken over the town. filey is not a safe place for families and the elderly to visit anymore and it is sadly irrisponsible to encourage them to dn so.

I'm surprised by that comment. I've never seen even a hint of trouble in Filey, and I spend a lot of time walking round Chapeltown and Harehills in Leeds so I'm pretty streetwise. But I guess you can find trouble in even the nicest of places

To answer Jeff and Rachel hardy comments above!

Jeff and Rachel you live on a different planet, i live in filey, moved here 2 years ago, and ive never seen anyone attacked or spat on, or even heard of such a thing.

Filey is a lovely place and the best place ever for kids, i have no worries letting my kids play around filey, theres always the local bobbys biking around and have no concerns about them or a nyone being attacked.

Ignore their comments they talk utter sh**

the hordes of youths would be the local kids, they have to go somewhere filey is a quiet place..

Filey is a beautiful, peaceful, relaxing resort, almost trapped in an idyllic time-warp. No-one should ever fear about coming here - you will be welcomed, wherever you go, by young and old alike. A great place to visit, and an even greater place to live. I know what I am talking about, as I do live here.

you're a lucky girl Debbie - I agree with every word, particularly the "idyllic time warp" bit. And I have to say, if plans work out, it's where I'll be living in a few years time.

I am pleased that J & R Hardy are former visitors, as their views are so far off reality.

I live in Filey and it must be one of the safest, most pleasant places to visit.

I feel that they do not know what they are talking about and judging by the number of errors in their text, they are not able to spell either.

We have read all the above comments with great interest and as first time visitors to Filey we have the following to add. What attracted us to to the location more than anything was the pictures of scenery and descriptions of the area on websites such as this - and how wrong they were. Immediately we stepped onto the platform at Filey we were confronted by a gang of young thugs, several still in school uniforms, who proceded to scream at and threaten us with the most disgusting language we have ever heard from children of that age and who also pelted us with stones and spit as we quickly escaped. A short way from the train station in an area that appeared to be the local bus station and while still in shock we heard the sound of a car horn directly behind us and my wife was spat upon from the swearing - jeering yobs in the vehicle as they drove past at great speed and this was witnessed by more than a few very shocked passers by. After we had checked into our guest house and composed ourselves a little we took an early evening walk through a beautiful gardened area close to the sea front and were again quickly set upon by groups of young yobs who threw stones and dirt as they threatened, swore and spat at us and we were genuinely if fear of our lives. The following day we left. Filey is a town for yobs and thugs and it is disgraceful that they allow their young people to carry on in this way. You can be sure that we will be advising everyone we know to stay well clear of Filey and we will also do our utmost to make sure that tourist operators provide the public with serious warnings before they consider a visit to Filey.

I am surprised at the comments about Filey being full of yobs and thugs. I live in Scarborough, much bigger than Filey and with more than it's fair share of young people hanging around in the street. Generally these young people get on with their own business and leave others to theirs.

Filey has never been a place with a terrible youth culture though it is a place where there is not much for young people to do.

Rather than moaning and whining about the young people why not come up with some suggestions for things they could be doing in Filey to address the issue (if there is one), some worthwhile and atractive opportunities.

For example there are two weekly Youth Theatre Sessions at the Evron Centre (Wednesdays for 12-16yrs and Saturdays for 8-11yrs). Tell them about it and get them to join!

Stop talking and start doing!

Coral what a load of **** you have just written, you sound like one of the P.C Do-Gooders that have turned our children into the loutish thugs that now rule our country! So its alright for yobs to attack families on holiday because there is nothing for them to do? How about the family from Norwich who were attacked in Filey last year and made the front page? What an idiot you are Coral!

I have to agree with Neil on this one - all three times! My twenty year vocation as a youth worker was ended when I excluded a group of disruptive yobs from our club. One of them went running to the police claiming he had been intimidated and I was arrested and charged with verbal assult towards the yobs! Coral your comments are completely out of touch with reality.

Hi Deano, In truth the scarborough police are half the problem in regard to yobs in Filey as they will only deal with what counts towards their petty sanction targets and the truth be damned. We reported trouble for months till we were confronted by a rude officer who barked "I am not interested in anything you have to say, if you call us again I will arrest you for wasting police time" Pathetic!

EARTH CALLING CORAL!!! I would like to know what planet you are living on to say such things. Forget about your taking sides with the thugs for the moment, what person in their right mind work with them and why should we? They will view any move to stop anti-social behavior as an abuse of their "rights" and then tell some cock-and-bull story to their bodyguards the police. Get real Coral!

Hello everybody, I have been following the comments posted here for a while and would like to add my own thoughts to what people have written if I may. As a twenty year resident I can strongly sympathise with all who want to preserve the "Last of the Summer Wine" image of Filey but it annoys me greatly when people deny that there is a yob problem in the town because there patently is. I will accept that that it may not always be seen by visitors to the town as is seems to emerge at the time of day when the shops have closed and the visitors have gone, then the atmosphere can change quite dramatically. Dear friends of mine will no longer come and stay because of the awful racial abuse they started to encounter in particular from young men in speeding cars but also while walking in the streets. They were spat at, had eggs thrown at them and were subject to the most vile insults of anywhere they have been. I can clearly remember the article in the Filey Mercury regarding the family from Norwich, another front page carried the story of council workers being urinated on by yobs in the bus station. The comments made about the police are a little unfair simply because the police in england as a whole are viewed with anger and contempt by the British public at large. And rightly so! Having said that I have found over the years that the Police throughout North Yorkshire are particularly rude and aggressive towards the victims of crime and its best not to involve them at all. Sorry for this but Filey has changed beyond recognition for me.

I am surprised to read abot a yob problem in Filey as the whole reason we visit so much is to be away from the disgusting yob problem in Scarborough, But as you say visiting a place can give a false sense of what is going on in contrast to actually living there so I can see your viewpoint. To touch on what people have said about the Police I would say that North Yorkshire hasnt had a Police Force for years now - oh we have pleanty of clowns in Police Uniforms who are there to enforce Political Correctness and look for reasons to dish out silly fines to decent, hard working people while protecting poor little yobs from the anger of their victims, but then these goons dont deserve to be called Police do they!?!

It is unfair for people to only target Filey as the whole coastline from Bridlington to Sandsend has had a terrible yob problem for years made all the worse by our pathetic excuse for a Police Force. We used to enjoy a walk along the sea front of an evening but cant do so any more such is the problem with the Filey youth there days but I must stress that Filey is no worse than the other towns.

We are considering retiring to either Filey or Beverley but having read these posts we think perhaps it is not even worth the risk of staying in Filey for a couple of weeks to look around and get a “feel”. People do tend to exaggerate but some of the detail especially the yobs spitting out of cars seems to be pretty accurate and well supported. Clearly the information given to us is flawed and we will ether have to risk a short stay or forget Filey as an option. Pity…as does seem like such a nice area. Apologies to the residents of Filey for using the word “risk”.

Hi Hugh. Think hard before moving to North Yorkshire as many have made the mistake of thinking they know the people because the have visited for years. We were horrified at the way people turned on us when we moved to Filey then found that the people in this part of England have the mentality that they do not accept anyone who wasnt born in that village or town and will do anything to get you out

We made the same mistake! Before Filey we had homes in Robin Hoods Bay and Whitby and were shocked beyond words at how xenaphobic the locals are in these places. The onslaught of hate began on the instant by the very people who made us feel so welcome as holiday visitors for years and extended to dammage to our property and hate mail till we were driven out. Filey is better but very antisocial.

Wake up, Filey only reflects what is happening all over Britain. It stands out in this Town because of its tranquility.

Agree totaly. I think the most accurate comment is the one about the atmosphere suddenly changing at the end of the day although we have experienced the yobs spitting at out of cars a number of times which goes on all day. What is particular to the north yorkshire though is the deep resentment, xenaphobia and hatred they have towards anyone that actually moves in from outside THEIR area.

It is interesting that most of the comments boldly stating that there is no yob problem in Filey are from people who dont actually live here and from the descriptions of the places they say they lodged at they wouldnt have come into contact with what the Filey residents have to put up with on a daily basis. Just because you come and stay for a few weekends in no way makes you qualified to comment.

Why are so many of you surprised at any of this? For more than ten years the council have been sending problem families from Leeds, York etc and placing them in Filey because no where else in the country will take them. What do you think was going to happen to our beautiful town!?!

Nevertheless the blame for the condition of Filey must be placed entirely with the petty minded, arrogant group of school bullies that have the afront to call themselves the Scarborough Police. Yorkshire must be the only place in England where young thugs can inflict dammage on your property or your body and then have YOU locked up in the same day! Utterly contemptable.

This is because the Yorkshire Police work to an ethic called Sanction Detection which is really nothing to do with fighting crime but as the name suggests means looking for any stupid excuse to make an arrest and obtain a cheap and nasty conviction - their jobs depend on it. They will usually ignor the under age thug who attacks you for this reason but will arrest you on the word of the thug.

Hi Stan

You certainly kicked started some postings on this subject and I am eternally grateful to you for that. It is noticeable that there are no postings contesting what is being said, could it be that there is simply no point arguing against the truth? Even a “Grumpy Ex Copper” offers some insight. Well we have decided that we would be foolhardy to say the least to ignore what we have read here. Hope things improve for those who have been caught up in the mess.

There are two seperate and distinct issues at work here Hugh one being the yob problem createt by the guttless police farce. The other be it Filey, Beverly or wherever being the weird ethnic purity constently being rammed down your throat - this is a YORKSHIRE town for YORKSHIRE people and if your not a YORKSHIRE man then you have no buisness living in YORKSHIRE!!!

That one made me laugh, it is a very cruel steriotype of rural yorkshire people but a true one and puts me in mind of the shop keepers in the League of Gentelmen, last year a market trader in Richmond refused to serve us saying they only deal with local people! If anyone remembers the Christmas Wallace and Gromit there was a road sign saying YORKSHIRE BORDERS - KEEP OUT! Good observation.

Hugh there is no point in trying to denounce these posts. The people who tried to do just that quickly shut up when it was pointed out that these incidents often make it to the local press.

I wish you lot would stop bashing Filey, would you want to live in, say, Scarbrough or Whitby? I thought not. Until the laws are put back twenty or so years yobs are somthing we are all going to have to put up with. If you cant learn to live with it then you can always leave the UK or join NAVIGOR but bashing Filey will do nothing at all.

Amanda I think we all agree that the laws need putting back twenty years but it is not going to happen!!! NAVIGOR is nothing more than a well meaning pressure group and will not impact the council round here. Try a Google search with the words FILEY, YOBS and you will see that it is a problem thas has spread out of Filey into the small villages, nothing can stop it.

We have been holding back from posting here as we were unsure of the response we would get but now is maybe the time. We ar fifteen year visitors to filey and have had no problems whatsoever, we found it to be a peacful and relaxing place and would have been amazed at anyone who would have said it had yobs, but that was all to change in October of last year. It has also been a point for us to visit the Whitby Gothic Weekend and for the first time we decided to take a detour through filey in our Gothic clobber. As always we went to the car park near the golf course as we enjoy the walk into the town. A little way dow a car pulled into the curb as if to ask directions but instead we found ourselves confronted by a car full of aggressive young men who started screaming F*****G Freaks! in front and back and who all spat at us before speeding off. This car went a little way befor turning round to pass us screaming abuse again this time one of them threw a milkshake that hid my husband in the face. It wasnt much further when we heard a commotion which turned out to be a gang of about ten children, none older than Eleven, who started screaming threats and abuse at us like demented animals. F****NG Freaks! F*****G Scummy B******s! We^ll kick yer F*****g heads in!!! They started throwing stones and filth and one of them ran up and started to tare the sleave of my top, when I pulled away he screamed "You cant F*****g touch me I^ll have you done for assult you stupid F*****g B***H!! We had no chouce but to run for the car and get out of the place and upon examining our clothing we were covered in filth and spit hardyl beleiving what had just happend to us, it was horrible and scary. Our oppinion of Filey has ben changed forever and we will never come back. It was shocking enough for us, just jmagine how people would feel if this was their first experience of filey! Sorry but from now on our advice to anyone will be to avoid Filey at all costs.

shocked and amazed at all this , my parents used to take me to Filey for our holidays every year in the late eighties and i visited this site as i was thinking of taking my family there this weekend , couldnt be more shocked !!! i thought Filey was a peaceful town full of easy going older folk . Sounds to me like Filey has a Spitting problem !!! Ive spent most of time growing up in real working class areas of Manchester and ive never been spat at ever !. Sorry Filey will not be bringing my family now and going to make sure anyone else thinking about it visits this site . Really feel these comments deserve to be on the main page

i'm totally shocked about all these negative comments i and my family have moved here a month ago 2 mins walk away from the town centre and have to say theres NEVER even been a hint of trouble'yobs'spitting.swearing etc etc.before we moved here we used to come here at least once a year.so all that i can say to all the people thats left negative comments is that they have either dreamed about it or been to a different filey!!!

HA HA HA HA HA!!! Let me guess:- Council Member? Tourist operator? Estate Agent? Whoever you are you DO NOT live in Filey to make such comments. So you are saying that all the stories in the local press about people being victims of yobs and destruction of property etc in Filey and the surrounding villages are works of fiction are you? And I suppose that the sheer volume of people who are selling up and moving away from Filey are doing this because their lives are being destroyed by the seagulls is that right? The last thing we need is yet another ignorant, patronising know-nothing twit like you saying that we are all telling lies because it`s bad for local buisness so I suggest that you just go back to whatever office you crawled out of and stop commenting on matters you know nothing about.

I lived in filey for three years from 2004 onwards. My daughter a visitor for the weekend was subject to a slap happy attack as she walked around alone one sunday afternoon. The said gang were all locals I later found they filmed my daughter upset on their phones. There is a group of thugs in Filey who thing they rule the roost. Trouble is sorted by putting peoples windows in and the "Filey mafia" taking matters into there own hands. Underneath there are deep problems and the people are very insular. I left and would not live there be a "wessi" at your peril in filey ( filey term for visitors from west Yorkshire)

I cannot number the times we have heard this story but it isn't just "Wessi" they do it to it's anyone and everyone who that hasn't grown up in the same community as them - no one is immune. They are perfectly happy to play the game for the casual tourist but generations of inbreeding have given the locals of North Yorkshire a seething, pathalogical hatred of all who were not actually born in North Youkshire. It's even worse than that actually with the people on one side of Whitby hating the ones on the other side and the people at the bottom of Robin Hoods Bay hating the ones at the top. We have lived in some grotty places in our life but have never had anything close to the personal abuse and violence we have had visiting the North Yorkshire coast when we decided to move to Filey. The particular problem with yobs in Filey can be traced back to the mid 90s when the town was chosen a a dumping ground for all the problem families that were being kicked out of estates in towns and cities around the United Kingdom. Pretty soon after all the drug pushers, pimps and organised crime came to live here and a number of "Shameless" type no-go areas sprang up around Filey and for this reason alone it can never go back to what it was. Sorry to say this but it's all too true.

dont know where you get the idea that parking in filey is in abundance,i live in the avenue and come holiday time one cant park after one goes out and comes back for all the scabby tourists that park for free all day,and they are not the only ones those people that work in town are also offenders,they should know better and use the pay and display car parks.

Hey B Lastham have you ever heard of biting the hand that feeds you? If it wasnt for us "scabby tourists" your town would be completely dead and lifeless. I guess your comment justifies what people have said here about the hostility and xenaphopa of Yorkshire people though. Have a nice day!

As a Yorkshireman, I'd like to say that the inbred, hostile and backwater populace of the North Yorkshire Coast does not speak for the rest of us. We're all pretty civilised.

As a local, (and one under the age of 25 too) I feel obliged to throw in my thoughts on this matter. Filey like any other town in the world has young people. Young people in Filey - just like anywhere else in the world get up to mischeif. I have lived in Filey all my life and find comments about "being stoned and spat at" concerning and I'm sorry to say very difficult to believe. I have never heard of something such as this in all the years I have lived here. Of course I have heard of local children and even local adults refering to non locals as "cum furts" and "holliday makers". In fact I think you need to take another look at Filey. In the shops you visit (e.g Cooplands) you will find that paticularly in summer the staff are local "yobs" and yes some of these people haven't got half a brain but at least they're trying to do something productive with their time! I also find your comments regarding the train station to be especially inaccurate at this time. Since the construction of the Tesco store (unfortunate I know) I have seen fewer and fewer "local yobs" in that area. On another note lets look at what happens in Filey during the summer: Thousands of tourists pass through the area many are very rude to the locals, clogg the streets and make it difficult to go about their daily business. They leave vast ammounts of litter on our beach, they occupy spaces across the seafront that locals on their day off perhaps wanted to visit. They are often rude to the locals that serve them in the shops, pubs and restaurants they frequent. You hold up our Coastguard team and Lifeboat crew by driving at 2 miles per hour in front of them when they are on their way to an emergency. I actually witnessed one man last summer block one of the lifeboat crew from entering the station, when poltily asked to move the man replied something to the extent "and who said you can go in there?" We serve your food, we work in the b&bs, the shops and we even rescue you from the sea. Still the tourists every year seem to have less and less common decency and respect. But yet at the end of it all every year when summer comes round we smile at you and try to treat you with the courtesy you fail to give us because we know that the influx of tourists to the region is what keeps most of the businesses afloat.

It seems strange the diverse range of comments on here. Even more strange is reference to a grumpy ex policeman. A grumpy ex policeman moved to Bempton in 2007,constantly stirring hatred and disquiet, blaming myself and others for anti social behaviour, when he himself caused all the trouble. The day we moved in on finding I had three older children, he said he did not want to live next to families. Then followed four years of lies and abuse and slander. He also claimed that in Filey he had beaten up anti-social yobs, which alarmed me greatly. Did he create the problem in Filey? He now appears to have left, and peace rules again. He has probably started on someone else. This man was convicted of assault on myself, my wife and another neighbour in Sept2010. As for my children, one graduated in 2009, did post graduate studies at Cambridge university,the other two graduated this year, one with a 2.1 the other with a first, hardly anti-social behaviour. I would be interested in any other revalations about "The grumpy ex policeman"