People living on a quiet street in Woolton have been receiving abusive letters – and no one knows who is writing them
19:00, 12 May 2025Updated 20:52, 12 May 2025
A general view of Allerton Road in Woolton(Image: Liverpool Echo)
At first glance, the small village street of Allerton Road in Woolton appears to be like any other community on a quiet one-way road with a row of pretty cottages and a village pub. But a resident has revealed a bizarre state of affairs as they said residents have, for the last few years, been terrorised by anonymous abusive letters.
Reminiscent of the days of the poison pen letter – an early 20th-century socio-criminal phenomenon – the mysterious writer alternates between two fonts, sending their letters via post and never by hand, and always with a first class stamp. Each letter has an address, typed on a computer, printed out and stuck to an envelope.
One neighbour who lives on the street likened the letters to the film Wicked Little Letters, or Lady Whistledown’s troublemaking in the period drama Bridgerton. The resident, who does not wish to be named for fear of reprisals, said: “All of the letters are pretty sinister. There’s almost always a sign-off at the end with something along the lines of, ‘if you don’t do what I say there’s going to be repercussions.'”
According to the resident, almost every house on the street – of which there are around 20 – has been targeted.
He told the ECHO: “Not long after we moved in, some of the neighbours told us there were some characters on the street and some funny things happen.
“We know everyone and the neighbours are really tight. A lot of them have lived here for 40 years, some of them were born in these houses. So when we moved in we just thought it was one of those villages where people have their quirks.”
The anonymous letters usually contain threats to report(Image: Submitted)
The neighbour said he has received around four letters, with the first arriving through his letterbox in 2021. The letter complained the recipient’s car was parked across the pavement, which was “hazardous and inconsiderate”.
It added: “You need to deal with this problem or I will report the matter to Liverpool City Council and the police.”
However, the resident claimed his car was “overhanging the pavement very slightly”.
Shortly after receiving the anonymous letter, the resident said his car was keyed, which he reported to Merseyside Police. But without any evidence, he could “never prove the two incidents were connected.”
The resident said: “At first we didn’t tell anyone about the letters and then as we got to know our neighbours a bit more we shared what had happened, and we found out it had happened to other neighbours as well.
“Not long after that we had some new neighbours move in. They knocked at our house one night and asked if we’d written a letter about them. Turns out they’d had a letter complaining about their dogs barking, saying if they didn’t shut their dogs up there would be trouble.”
‘You absolute noisy, rude p***k’ – one of the letters written by the anonymous scribe(Image: Submitted)
Last summer, the resident described how his house was undergoing renovation work. Shortly after work began, he received yet another letter – but this one was far more sinister than any he had received previously.
In the letter, he was called an “absolute noisy, rude p****” by the poison pen writer. The letter added: “Give it a f***ing rest will you, count this as your first and last warning. Believe me there will be trouble.”
Naturally, questions have turned to who is behind the letters. But with no evidence, the anonymous poison pen writer remains a mystery.
Merseyside Police has launched an investigation into the issue. A spokesperson for the force said: “We can confirm that enquiries are ongoing after incidents in Woolton. On 29 April, a resident in Allerton Road reported allegations of threatening behaviour and criminal damage to a vehicle on the property.
“Enquiries are ongoing and further reassurance will be given to the victim.”
Anyone with information about incidents in the area is asked to contact police via @MerPolCC on X, ‘Merseyside Police Contact Centre’ on Facebook, 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111, or online via Give information anonymously | Crimestoppers.