TERRIFIED residents on one of Britain's most dangerous roads say they are living in the middle of a gang "turf war".
Samurai-sword-waving thugs have wreaked havoc in and around East Reading, Berkshire, in recent years.
Relentless drug dealing, knifings, robberies, coordinated gang attacks and weed-stinking streets have left locals scared to even go to work.
But despite all this, residents say police are simply not doing enough - allowing the gangs to run amok.
One resident on Regent Street told The Sun: "They are covered up, hoods, it’s horrible.
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"They say it happens on every corner but it doesn’t - this is really extreme."
The carnage came to a head last Friday when eight masked thugs rained foot-long swords down on a car in frenzied attack.
The 3am savagery on Regent Street was caught on camera by a brave neighbour who desperately tried to ward them off.
The chilling footage shows shimmering blades thrusted into a silver Audi as carnage erupts in the quiet street - no one was inside the car, so they scarpered.
When The Sun visited on Friday, glass from the smashed saloon - taken away by police - scattered the road while a resident's car had been ploughed into.
Last summer residents witnessed a man stabbed in the stomach stumbled down the street leaving a "pool of blood".
One mum, who did not want to be identified, explained: “He stumbled all the way down the street and went into a neighbour's house.
“The pool of blood was here. Same machetes and samurai swords, I think it’s the same group.”
The incident on the street - where a two-bed home can set you back up to £250,000 - left her daughter feeling “sick” and scared to leave the house.
'TURF WAR'
One woman who runs a local shop said the area has drug dealers operating who openly deal in their tinted-windowed cars outside residents' homes.
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She described the situation as as “dangerous”.
The claim was echoed by another resident who told The Sun: "I heard somebody has moved into the area who is trying to take over territory so there is a turf war.
"My dad told me I should move but it’s difficult as this is my and my kids’ home."
One resident even thinks there is a cannabis farm on the street, as she revealed: "It’s hard in the summer because you either leave your windows open and get stoned or boil alive!"
The issues are made worse by the scourge of robberies that ransack the area, with stricken Regent Street one of the worst affected.
They don’t care. It’s scary. They have weapons, they are not scared to go into your house
Anonymous resident
A mum-of-two, who has lived on the road for six years, revealed: "When my scooter got stolen, we had a camera, they were directly looking at it and their face was clear.
"They don’t care. It’s scary. They have weapons, they are not scared to go into your house."
The mum told how she was left so shaken by Friday's sword attack she didn’t go to work, before slamming the police response.
Another fumed after Friday's horror: "I was hoping that when I came back today I would see police cars and just some presence really."
The repeated incidences left one woman to consider arming herself with a cricket bat despite fearing it could be used against her.
A local shopkeeper added how the area “always” has issues as he told The Sun: "The police are usually asking me about things that happen."
After Friday's incident, Thames Valley Police enforced a 24-hour Section 60 dispersal order and beefed up police presence in the Regent Street area.
Anyone with information about this incident should call 101 or make a report on to the Thames Valley Police website, quoting reference number 43230084723.
