“DAILY” muggings have left parents terrified to let their kids outside with fears gangs are “taking over” a estate.

Residents in the Somercotes estate in Laindon claim they have faced months of knifepoint robberies by teenagers who gather in large groups in the area.

It comes just months after the murder of dad-of-four James Gibbons who was stabbed outside his home after celebrating his twin daughters birthday.

Shockingly, residents have admitted they felt safest following the murder due to an increased police presence.

Emma Ward, 47, claims there have been at least 10 robberies in the last week.

She said: “It’s rife. It’s really really bad. People are getting mugged at knifepoint. People are so scared they’re not even reporting it to the police.

“The gangs are just taking over the estate. They’re ruthless. They will rob you for anything.

“It’s happening every day.

“I’ve lived here for 20 years and I’ve never seen it as bad as this. The last three to four months are unbelievable. They are taking over.

“People are terrified. I’m terrified to go out and about.”

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Parents have now been left terrified to let their kids out despite it being the summer holidays.

Emma added: “After the murder, there was police here and people felt safe to sleep at night.

“We don’t see police patrols now and there’s so many paths and walkways that they can run down.

“We’re in the six weeks holidays and people are scared to let their kids out. We want the gangs to know that people are aware of what they’re doing.

“It’s just a really nasty place to be living.”

Chief Inspector Chris Bradford, Basildon District Commander, said: “First and foremost, we would always encourage anyone who witnesses crime or is a victim of crime to report it to us. We will always take reports seriously.

“The Somercotes area of Basildon forms a key part of our daily patrols – both in daylight and in darkness.

“As a district we are also consistently reviewing our patrol plans based on evidence and intelligence gathering and will react accordingly if we believe we need to.

“Within the force, we have specialist units constantly reviewing the behaviour of gangs in the Basildon area and, again, this intelligence feeds into how we plan our patrols.”