Nicola Barrell had a fairly idyllic childhood growing up in a Norfolk village where you knew who and what to avoid – the man driving his Robin Reliant past the school every day at hometime and where the only danger was falling out of trees or deep into haystacks.

As the mother of a tweenie growing up Norwich I am fully prepared that he is going to be much more streetwise and have a very different childhood to mine.

But I have always felt confident that Norwich is one of the UK's safest cities to bring up a child. That is until the last few months when it has had a much edgier feel. I now insist my son comes home from the nearest park before dusk and I won't walk home from the city by myself anymore.

The recent Daily Mail report that gangs are now recruiting children in care and outside school gates in Norwich has caused my uneasiness to turn into fear. The dualling of the A11 has made our city more accessible to the good, the bad and the ugly.

So when I sat down with my son and asked him what to do if someone approached him or offered drugs his response 'But I don't want to be shanked mum..you wouldn't be able to do anything either'

The sad thing is that he is probably right and I am now seriously considering how safe it is to live here anymore.