Altananam residents plead for end to anti-social nightmare

On Sunday night, a group of youths hurled stones at members of the Fire Brigade who were called to deal with burning rubbish at Altananam Park.

Fire personnel came under attack while dealing with an industrial-sized wheelie bin which had earlier been stolen from a shop on Castle Street and taken to the estate where it was then set alight.

Police say that the Brigade had earlier been sent to several calls related to fires in the Altananam area where tyres, fences and such were burned.

On Monday morning, some residents of the estate spoke to the Times to say they were extremely worried about the situation.

One said: “Sunday night was bad. Groups of youths, wearing hoodies, were engaged in really bad anti-social behaviour by throwing stones at windows and generally causing mayhem.

“People are terrified and many are intimidated.

“They would like to let these louts know what they think of them, but very often are too scared to open their mouths. You don’t even go to the shops because when you walk the street all you get is abuse.

“There’s a lot of very good people in Altananam who just want to get on with their lives and they don’t need this sort of thing. Nobody seems to be able to control these people and all we can do is appeal to the police to help us.”

The trouble is nothing new but appears to have worsened in recent weeks.

Police are aware of the problem and are concerned. Sergeant David Larmour commented: “We know that people in Altananam are worried and we don’t want this problem to escalate.”

Inspector Bryan Hume met residents on Monday morning to discuss the situation.

After the meeting he said: “We would encourage people to call us when they see anti-social behaviour taking place. That way we can send a patrol and hopefully catch those responsible.

“We would also encourage parents to make sure they know where their children are at night and what they are doing.”

Inspector Hume said they would be examinig CCTV footage in the town to see if they could identify the culprits who stolen the bin.

“If we can identify them then they can expect to be prosecuted,” he added.