As a resident of Blackbird Leys, Oxford, I think the Daily Mail article on the estate (Oxford Mail, September 18) was pretty spot on.

I didn't want to live on Blackbird Leys because of its reputation, but at the time I had no choice.

Since that time, I have been trying to think of ways to get out and move away.

Almost every day in the Oxford Mail, there is an article about some sort of violent crime.

Only when it is in a national newspaper do the few residents who like living there come out in support of the estate.

It was lovely to watch The Singing Estate choir, but the TV programme wouldn't have been made were it not for the terrible reputation that Blackbird Leys has.

I would be interested to know how many of the Blackbird Leys residents do not have a criminal record, are not on state benefits, are not under some sort of watch or care of social services and are not being treated for some sort of addiction.

The people left would be a tiny minority.

You cannot describe Blackbird Leys to anyone and the description be positive. People get shot and stabbed on a weekly basis. It is not shocking anymore - it is the norm.

People openly deal drugs in the streets and if crime is committed, the police are the last to know because people take the law into their own hands.

Although crime used to be reported to the police, their attitude made it such that people deal with it themselves unless they need a crime report number.

Community officers are a waste of our money. Nobody takes them seriously and I'm not surprised.

All they do is walk around the estate looking for trouble. What do they do when they find it? They call the police.

When a member of my family had been threatened with a gun, we called 999 and waited for the police. The youths were outside our house and we knew who they were. With small children in the house, we were scared for their safety.

How long did it take the police to show up? Two days.

No-one cares about Blackbird Leys any more and I can't blame them. Honest, hard-working people are in the minority. It really is a case of 'the mob rules', and the mob know it.

Lucy S Jane, A Blackbird Leys Resident (Unfortunately)