A dedicated NHS worker was left mortified after receiving an anonymous note from a stuck-up neighbour saying her home was a ‘disgrace’.
A mental health nurse who has been working 50 hour weeks during the pandemic, found the message tucked in a newsletter posted through the door of her bungalow in Broadstone, Poole, Dorset.
The anonymous, handwritten note read in block capitals: ‘Your garden and curtains are a disgrace. This is not Turlin Moor,’ referring to a council estate three miles away.
The 34-year-old nurse and her ambulance driver husband, who works seven day weeks, relocated from London to the upmarket suburb of Broadstone a year ago.
The road where they live is in one of the wealthier parts of Broadstone where the average price for property is £640,000. It also backs on to exclusive Broadstone Golf Club where membership of £1,700 a year.
The mental health worker from Poole, Dorset, who has note been named, spotted the hand-written letter tucked in a local newsletter that had been left ‘hanging out of her post box’
The couple have a one-year-old daughter and want to renovate their ‘forever home’ but were waiting for planning permission to do so.
The nurse discovered the note in her letterbox last Friday afternoon.
Her post on social media read: ‘Well this was nice to come home to, looks like trolling isn’t just digital…I’m sorry the net curtain and my baby’s blackout blind are not up to your standards, that’s the downside of being a full time nurse in the NHS, having a 1yr old and a husband currently working 7 days a week.
‘So easy for some people to make judgement when they have no context. To the mysterious note dropper, feel free to come and cut my lawn or give us a hand with the renovation you troll.’
She later added: ‘I am sure it wasn’t the person who delivers the newsletter as I had already received one earlier that day.
‘The note was tucked inside of another newsletter and left hanging out of my letter box which I thought that was a bit unusual. It was just horrible. It is like being bullied in your own home and that should be the one place where you should feel safe.
‘I don’t really share things online, but I felt that it was really unacceptable and people in the area should know about it.
The recipient took to Facebook to share a photo of the note and slammed the ‘troll’ on social media. She later explained that her bungalow (pictured) is the only property on the street that hasn’t been ‘developed’ but that they are waiting for planning permission to start renovations
‘My partner and I have been working so much over the past year. I have been working nine or ten hour shifts five days a week, and they are not a nice nine hours as I’m dressed up in full PPE with a face mask and apron.
‘So, to come home to something like this was really upsetting. We have taken on an old house on the street, and it is one of the only ones that isn’t developed.
‘We are waiting for planning permission to start some renovations on it, but we are kind of stuck in limbo at the moment. We have got a very small bungalow and a young growing family. For us, this is our forever home. We really love the area, and we want to stay here.
‘You never know what is going on for other people and you do not know when you are going to push someone over the edge.’
The road where they live is in one of the wealthier parts of Broadstone where the average price for property is £640,000. It also backs on to exclusive Broadstone Golf Club where membership of £1,700 a year.
Since the nurse posted about the note on social media she has been inundated with messages of support and offers to mow her lawn and weed her garden for free.
She added: ‘The reaction I have received is really reassuring. Whoever put that note through my door is in the minority because there are clearly lots of lovely, caring people in the area.
‘En masse, it seems that many people are community focused and supportive.’
Local councillor Vikki Slade said she was ‘absolutely disgusted’ by the ‘appalling and cowardly’ letter which she described as a form of bullying.
Cllr Slade said: ‘I can confirm that this was not delivered by a member of the neighbour watch. The person put the message inside their own neighbour watch leaflet and posted it to her house.
‘It is appalling that someone should feel compelled to write a comment about the appearance of someone’s home in this way. I was so upset for her.
‘Not only to write this anonymous letter in capital letters, but to associate it with a community group that is set up to bring the community together and make residents feel safer. It is just such a cowardly thing to do.’
Another neighbour said: ‘The note is just plain nastiness but that is what this area is like. It’s quite cliquey with curtain twitchers who are about keeping up appearances and competing with neighbours. I think it’s the age that we live in and it’s only getting worse.
‘People are so out of touch with everyone else and they don’t care how they make them feel. Because of the pandemic people have gotten used to the idea of self policing.
‘That’s what this is – it’s neighbours policing neighbours. What authority do they think they have to leave a note? They’re lovely people and they have a small child. They work hard and don’t have time to clean the garden. What’s it got to do with anyone else?’
The neighbour said he grew up on Turlin Moor, a council estate three miles away in the Hamworthy area of Poole.
He added: ‘I lived there for 15 years. The people there are much nicer than they are here. They take pride in their homes and they’re friendly. This sort of thing would never happen there. I think it’s absolutely horrible.’