Concerned householders in Malmesbury have said historic anti-social behaviour being caused by youths has been allowed to escalate.
Wiltshire Police has said it is aware of a group of youths causing problems in the area and understands the upset and distress caused.
One resident, who wishes to remain anonymous, said a group of teenagers 'terrorise' people with verbal abuse, drug-taking and drinking in public, throwing things into people’s gardens, breaking glass in front doors and littering vapes.
The behaviour reportedly started in the middle of the first lockdown - more than four years ago.
“As they have gotten older, it’s gone from bad language, loud music and making a nuisance of themselves, to now drinking and drug-taking”, the householder explained.
“They’re only around 15 or 16-years-old and maybe teenagers are teenagers, but it’s one thing to cope with foul language and loud music, however it’s another when they throw bottles and stuff into gardens.
“Even elderly neighbours have had bins and rubbish thrown into their gardens. Imagine if it hits one of them.
"The problem is, it’s getting more dangerous the older the kids get, and now I feel like we’re in for a summer of it unfortunately.
"We all feel like we don’t get support from the police and the fact their behaviour has been allowed to escalate is a huge problem waiting to happen. Something needs to be done.”
There have also been alleged cases of young people purposely intimidating residents, especially when they are home alone, such as throwing stuff at one person’s front door to make their dog bark until the early hours of the morning.
Other reports include the youths verbally abusing residents while they are walking home and throwing glass bottles at people's homes to purposely cause damage to their tiles.
But residents say nobody has ever been charged and claim the police are slow to take a statement or investigate the crimes, leaving the community with no other choice but to pay the repair costs and any increases in home insurance themselves.
They have even said it feels redundant reporting crimes to the police, and sometimes creates more problems, as if the youths find out who reported them, they tend to target that person or their property more.
Residents said if they try to report crimes online, they either don’t hear anything back or are spending a considerable amount of their free time on evenings and weekends – when the anti-social behaviour is at its worst – trying to get through on 101.
Jubilee Gardens (Image: Google Maps)One person said: “When it’s this difficult to report, why should we have to? We spend all day at work and we can’t keep giving up the whole of our evenings doing this.
"If we call 101 we expect someone to come out or be put through to someone and it shouldn’t be this difficult.”
They said Jubilee Gardens has become a place where ‘nobody wants to go because that’s where the kids gather’, but suggested cutting bushes back and making it more well-lit could deter them.
“I don’t think there will ever be a solution, maybe some cameras might put them off and some CCTV should be put up in Jubilee Gardens, but obviously with drinking and drugs they lose their inhibitions and might not care about a camera being there.”
Wiltshire Police sergeant Katharine Smith said: “We are aware of a small group of youths acting in an anti-social manner in the Malmesbury area.
"We appreciate the upset and distress this can cause to local residents and we continue to carry out patrols in the area.
“If a crime is committed, we would always encourage residents to report this immediately so we can investigate.”
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