GANGS of trouble-making teenagers wreaking havoc in Bovingdon has gone "beyond a joke" say parish councillors and residents who have called for extra policing.

At a parish council meeting held on Monday night Bovingdon residents and councillors pushed for extra police officers to patrol the village streets to keep destructive teenagers at bay.

A mother, who was too afraid to reveal her name, said: "I live in Hyde Meadows in Bovingdon, where the residents are having trouble with gangs of teenagers burning out our cars, breaking our wing mirrors, destroying the security lights in our garages and there is nothing we can do about it.

She said: "They are so intimidating, I took my child to the park the other day and their was a group of them there, drinking, swearing loudly, and generally being a nuisance. A lot of us are too afraid of speaking out in case they come back for revenge."

Commenting afterwards, parish councillor, Mrs Jill Mayo, said: "Youngsters have been wreaking having havoc in Bovingdon for many years now, and we are just sick and tired of it.

"We do not know what to do any more, we feel we have tried everything. These young people always seem to be one step ahead of us.

"To stop them from climbing the trees we put anti-climb paint of them, but this did not deter them. They continue to climb on top of the Bovingdon Memorial Hall, which is hundreds of years old, by climbing up and down its pipes and gutters. We even put security lights on the hall and CCTV to stop them, and about three weeks ago these were shot down with air rifles."

July 3, 2002 17:00