A 20-year-old Dundee student was confronted by a “junkie” blocking the entrance to her flat who demanded £80 to let her past.
Lauren, who studying marketing and business at Abertay University, was returning home home from her work when she spotted the figure lying across the entrance to her Seagate tenement.
She called a work colleague and when they woke the man, he demanded £80 to let her past.
When this was refused, he then asked for a cigarette before asking for confirmation he was on the Seagate.
An image of the man posted on Twitter by Lauren on Monday has gone viral and has been shared on Twitter nearly 4,000 times and liked more than 9,000 times.
The photograph was accompanied by the message: “Can’t get in ma flat cos a junkie has fallen asleep and has quoted me £80 for him to move. Love Dundee.”
Lauren said: “I had just finished work so it was about 5pm or 6pm. I was walking home and I noticed the legs lying out from my close as I was approaching.
“Then I saw the gentleman sitting outside my flat – I was a little bit scared.
“I didn’t want to phone the police so I called my mum and she said was there anybody around I could get to help.
“All my flatmates were away so I called a colleague from work and he came round.
“That all took about 50 minutes and the guy was just completely still.
“We asked if he could get out of the way and he wasn’t really answering, just grunting.
“Then he said if we gave him £80 he would move. We said ‘no’ and so he asked for a cigarette.
“We said we didn’t smoke and he asked us to promise he was on the Seagate.
“His eyes were just rolling into the back of his head.”
Lauren said they could not just push past him as the door opens straight onto the stairwell and he could have hit his head.
“Finally he just moved forward a bit and we got past,” she said.
“I didn’t want to phone the police as I thought it might be a waste of their time but I’m only 20 and a girl so it was quite intimidating to have somebody completely out their face on my doorstep.
“I haven’t seen him again but other people have seen him around the Seagate.”
Although unsettling, the incident has also proved to be an icebreaker with other residents in the tenement, who got in touch with Lauren after recognising their front door from her picture on Twitter.
She said: “I’ve met the girls who live opposite me and some from the floor above.
“We’re all going to meet up in September.”
A Police Scotland spokeswoman said: “If anyone ever has concerns they should phone police on 101 or 999 in an emergency.”
