Would you tell somebody in this situation?

[recoveringthesatellites]

Basically we've lived in our current home almost 2 years. There are neighbours across the way who have 4 children aged probably 7,8,12 and 16/17 if I hazard a guess. There are 3 adults living there normally (mum, dad and another woman).
We haven't had any direct issues with them except for them fly tipping furniture, car parts etc on the road which they did remove once asked to but only when asked to after they'd been there a while. I'm purely trying to give background info so our concern makes sense.
They have their curtains closed all day and night which is fine but I don't think it's a nice atmosphere for the children but each to their own I suppose.
A couple of weeks ago another adult man moved into the property (we are assuming this because his car has been there since and he unpacked loads of bags and bedding etc when he arrived).
Today we watched the father fill up a double air bed in the street. He duct taped a pipe to the car exhaust then instructed the 12ish year old to get in the drivers seat and pump the pedal, thus filling the air bed with exhaust fumes until it was firmly full and the child then carried it into the house.

Wtf?? We can't be the only ones finding this strange?
So they're subletting we assume (I know for certain that it is a council property) and also I feel that the children are living in a fairly dangerous environment if the father thinks that this is acceptable. If that is to leak in the night surely it would be incredibly dangerous?

So my question is: what would you do about this? Do I report this to the council or what? I don't want to get them into any trouble but I just feel the living arrangements and the fact that someone is sleeping somewhere in the house on an air bed filled with carbon monoxide is a bit of a cause for concern. The property is either a 2 or 3 bedroom (that's what they all are, no bigger).

I'm a bit baffled really and we are at a loss what to do if anything so decided to ask here.

[Coconutbug]

It's a good idea to report if there are dangerous practices like you say. Regarding the amount of people living there obviously some might be unregistered but I know council's have funny rules about what can count as a living space. So it's not just bedrooms if that makes sense, any downstairs rooms that can fit a bed in could also be classes as a 'bedroom' so they may not do anything about the amount of people living there except maybe if they were unregistered I guess

[Emeraldshamrock]

The police will follow up with SS if the father was irritated and unhelpful they probably couldn't go in to check on hearsay unless invited without a warrant.

[slightlyoutting]

Bloody hell thats awful and an awful response from the police. At least they should have done was to have a walk around to make sure the children are safe.

My mind boggles how anyone would even come up with attaching the air bed to the car. There’s always the hair drying trick which is the first thing to come up on google.

Poor children. Thank you for reporting it as action needs to be taken.

[MaryRaddy]

Thanks for the update OP I had been thinking about this. I wonder how that conversation went then?! You've done all you can do.

[recoveringthesatellites]

The police did turn up last night, the dad answered the door (the mum wasn't in) and they never went in or anything, they were only there about 10 minutes. The dad was clearly getting angry/agitated but they left anyway so not sure if it's going to be passed on to somebody else.
He did open some curtains slightly after the police had left and we could see the air bed stood up against a wall in the children's upstairs bedroom though so he never took it out or brought it out to deflate and all the curtains are closed again now so not sure if it's still in there but haven't seen any of them this morning.

[StillCoughingandLaughing]

I can’t say I’d be stressing over closed curtains or who’s sleeping where, but the air bed thing is potentially dangerous, so for that reason alone it was worth the call.

[SteelyPanther]

I suppose it depends upon where you live. Ours are excellent but it’s been harder to contact them since they went over to a private company, along with the health visitors.
They both used to be based in clinics but now they’re forced to work in their cars and WFH.

[Toddlerteaplease]

@steelypanther. School nurses are impossible to track down and will be unlikely to do anything. Better to contact the school directly.

[SteelyPanther]

If you are concerned about the children you could always contact the school nurse anonymously. She will ask school safeguarding lead if there’s any concerns and act upon it.

[PopsicleHustler]

Oh my god. I would evne phone the police. I once had an air bed when I first moved into my first ever place as Argos said it would be ages before my proper double bed would be delivered and so I slept on an airbed. It would deflate all the time. And sometimes would pop I had to tape it or use the material given to patch it back up. Most of the time I would wake up and would be on the floor as it was so useless.


This is so dangerous. And it sounds like they don't have a clue they could be putting themselves and their children at risk. If that airbed pops then they could all be in serious danger. Filling the room or house with carbon monoxide or dangerous gases. I'm not entirely sure. The police need to be involved as well as the social services. The police should come drag out the mattress and empty it safely somewhere. I would even call the fire department i am not being ott. I would if I saw my neighbours doing that and knew the children in there are at risk.
How awful!

[RAOK]

You did the right thing. You could have potentially saved those children’s lives.

[k1233]

Just googled as I was wondering how dangerous it was in a room full of normal air. Rather scary really considering the mattress will be slept on for around 8 hrs a day. Below is from an occupational health and safety site:

"Carbon monoxide enters the bloodstream through the lungs and combines with haemoglobin. Haemoglobin is the red part of the blood which carries the oxygen. Although carbon monoxide follows the same path as oxygen, the poison gas combines with haemoglobin 210 times faster than oxygen. This means that even though there may be plenty of oxygen in the surrounding atmosphere, carbon monoxide will get into the bloodstream first. High blood level concentrations of the carbon monoxide will prevent sufficient amounts of oxygen from reaching the heart and brain. This can lead to suffocation, capillary haemorrhaging, permanent damage of nerve tissues and brain cells, and even death."

[Emeraldshamrock]

You done the right thing it isn't an easy step it is important to act, I know many on mumsnet prefer closed curtains for all different reasons but with the added concerns.
Sorry for the sun link I wondered why didn't the neighbour's notice.
www.thesun.ie/news/5560117/schoolboy-living-dead-dog-piles-garbage/

[VioletGrace]

Any update, OP? Did the police visit them?

[VioletGrace]

You've done totally the right thing, OP. They sound, at best, highly irresponsible.

[savagebaggagemaster]

Well done, OP. You've done the right thing.

[PurpleButterflyAway]

Oh wow, glad you phoned!

[CottonSock]

You have done what you can. What a totally idiotic thing an adult has done.

[recoveringthesatellites]

I have phoned and logged it with 101 so hopefully somebody will come and look into this. The social services number for my local area said their office was closed and I panicked so phoned 101 instead. Hopefully somebody will come out and pay them a visit because I wouldn't be able to go to sleep tonight in my own bed knowing that is in there!

Like others have said, I'm concerned that they think this is acceptable so what else goes on in that house that the parents think is ok.

Also there's no way anyone is in a tent in the garden - the property has a very small yard that backs on to the main road and you would be able to see a tent if that was the case.

[savagebaggagemaster]

Call the NSPCC now and speak to an adviser - this sounds really worrying and you need some expert advice.

[MaryRaddy]

WTF. I would definitely call 101.

[Auntydarah]

Call social services
That type of behaviourakes me worried that the adults in the home are doing stuffoke this often. Which would endanger the children. That's just a bonkers thing to do.

[memememe]

not excusing the blow up bed issue, but could the guest be sleeping in a tent in the garden? might just be a temporary measure or a family visitor? but id ring the council anyway due to the danger of the exhaust.

[Bluepolkadots42]

I would definitely report to social services- those children could be at risk based on what you witnessed. As you said, what other weird/dangerous decisions are those parents making? Do the children look clean and cared for?

[Canihaveafairygodmotherpls]

• look right
  
• concerning
  
  Sorry typed too quick!