The longstanding tenant of Lochee’s Burnside Court contacted the paper to give an insight into what it’s like to live on the doorstep of heroin addiction.

The man says the impact of the drug on his neighbourhood is all too evident — and steadily getting worse.

“People are scared to go out,” he said. “They are afraid to even get into the lift with some of the unsavoury characters who are hanging about now.

“It is a dreadful situation. The noise and disruption is unbelievable and then you have things like people using the corridors as a public toilet. It is disgusting.

“You know what some of these addicts begin to look like, there is no getting away from that.

“And when you have an elderly person getting in a lift with a group of them they are bound to be intimidated.”

But the tenant believes the majority of addicts seen around the building are not residents, but are rather there to buy heroin from a well-known dealer who lives in the multi.

“This particular family was moved in some time ago and then some other relations of theirs were also moved in later on,” he explained.

“So what they have been doing is playing switch-a-roo — dealing out of one flat until that gets a bit hot for them, then moving the operation to the other flat.

“It means we have drug users coming into the building at all hours of the day and night looking for a fix.

“Quite often they appear completely out of their minds.

“If I see them in the corridor they make comments like ‘grass’ or ‘don’t say anything around him’ because they want me to keep my mouth shut.

“But I won’t be silenced and intimidated.

“I’ve been living here for years and it used to be a great place to live, but it has gone completely downhill in recent years.”

But although the police have been unable to counter the problem successfully, the Lochee man does not believe they can be blamed for the failure, instead focusing his attention on the area’s politicians.

“The police have been very helpful to me,” he said. “They have come up here several times and done what they could for me.

“The problem is they have an almost impossible task — it is now too great to deal with. They are just completely underfunded for what they are facing.

“I read the politicians talking as if they are an authority on the issue.

“But they never come around here and see what’s going on so how would they know anything about it? All their information is second hand.

“I think their proclamations on the subject are a joke to be honest.”

Last week, Tayside’s Deputy Chief Constable Kevin Mathieson admitted the force was losing its battle against heroin.

He told members of the Tayside Police Joint Board that “things are getting worse” with more deaths from overdoses, more people becoming addicts and cheap drugs being made freely available.