Families' hell living in shadow of city centre blighted by drugs and sex workers as gangs living 'Love Island lifestyle' smashed

In the shadow of Manchester city centre, gangs of brazen drug dealers have been peddling crack cocaine and heroin in plain sight. Each day, waves of homeless people descend on the streets of Beswick and Miles Platting to get their hands on class A drugs.

The bleak reality being played out on Manchester's streets has emerged following Seventeen suspects were arrested yesterday following an undercover operation to smash the gangs who were living "Love Island lifestyles".

Dawn raids were carried out after an eight-month police investigation into drugs being sold openly on streets between Piccadilly and the Etihad Stadium. Officers posed as drug users to buy crack and recorded the deals.

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Detectives say they 'have never seen drug dealing so brazen and unchallenged' in the city before. One of the streets taken over by dealers is Palmerston Street, which stretches from the city centre to the estates of Beswick, the M.E.N. understands.

Tucked away amid the swanky developments in Ancoats and New Islington, it feels a world away. Flanked by overgrown woodland, its secluded location and close proximity to the city's homeless population were ideal for dealers intent on peddling misery.

Yet families living on a nearby housing estate say they are being subjected to a daily "nightmare" which has left them afraid to let their children out. Yvonne Kearney and Paul Cassidy live in Ancoats Grove with their two young children - just yards from where dealers and sex workers congregate.

"They are constantly dealing," said Ms Kearney. "Prostitution is a big issue around here, it goes on all day and night. You see the prostitutes