Neighbours fed up with boozing kids (From Gazette & Herald)

Neighbours fed up with boozing kids

RESIDENTS of a North Yorkshire street claim beer-swilling, noisy youths who leave a trail of litter and destruction are making their lives hell.

People living in Kingfisher Drive, Pickering, are fed up with gangs of youngsters as young as eight and aged up to 18, who they say meet up and hang about on a footpath used as a shortcut to Goslipgate and Vivis Lane.

Plumbing and heating engineer Dennis Appleby, 52, who has lived in the street for seven years, said: "It's an absolute disgrace down there.

"They've broken down a fence, left loads of litter, they're drinking, and as far as I'm concerned, using drugs too."

Mr Appleby said on a number of occasions he had asked the youths, who could gather in anything from a handful up to an intimidating 30 in number, to move on and he had been verbally abused.

"I don't want to take abuse from kids like that. We are part of this community as well. On Saturday they were there until 3am," he said.

Mr Appleby said he had discussed the situation with the police and was frustrated at their apparent lack of action to curb the youngsters' anti-social behaviour.

Neighbour Deany Manderson, who has lived in the street with her husband, Stan, for ten years, said: "We can't even watch the television, they make so much noise. It's just getting horrendous. I'm frightened to death of the school holidays because it'll be all day long.

"They're wrecking the trees, drinking crates of lager, smoking and God knows what else. A lot of the neighbours are frightened and daren't say anything for fear of the repercussions. Our quality of life has just deteriorated."

Community safety sergeant Cliff Edens said: "We appreciate and empathise with the problems of residents of Kingfisher Drive. We are working in partnership with youth groups, in particular Ryedale Child and Youth Project, to find solutions.

"Our police community support officers have gone to the area to move youths on and take drink off young people, and we've written to their parents under the youth action combating antisocial behaviour method."

Sgt Edens said the community safety partnership Safer Ryedale had identified funds to help with the purchase of a youth shelter and police were working with an architectural liaison officer to find the best place to put it.

Updated: 12:19 Wednesday, June 16, 2004