Young people making lifeunbearablesay residents

Residents of the road - which was crowned estate of the year in 2010 - are so fed up with crowds of youths causing havoc in their area that they set up a meeting which was held last night (Thursday) at the Independent Methodist Church at Causeway End Road to which police and local politicians were invited.

One resident said householders simply cannot go on. He said unruly youths who congregate at the steps close by fire pellet guns at their windows, have overturned up to 20 bins in the street and damaged countless cars. On one occasion he said he saw one girl urinating in the street.

“This is a small secluded street and most of the residents are senior citizens who have lived here and indeed have reared their families in this once lovely street,” he said.

“Sadly this is no more. The people here are now tortured with groups of teenagers sometimes 40 to 50 at a time. At first they were just making a nuisance of themselves but now it has turned more serious.

“Residents have had their bins overturned, windows have been pelted with stones and pellets and the back of some of the houses and gardens have been used as toilets.

“There is an old age pensioner who is so scared that she sits in her bedroom with the light off afraid to turn it on at night in case she is targeted. It is just ridiculous that residents have to live this way.

“If anyone approaches them they just say that they have a right to be there and there is nothing that we can do to move them on.

“It is not just weekends either, it is every night.

“One couple who have lived here for the past 30 years are thinking about leaving the area.

“When we call the police the youths move on 200 yards and they come off with all this talk that they have rights.

“They make a laughing stock of the police. They disappear when the police come but when they go the youths come back again.”

A spokesperson for the PSNI said “Police are aware of concerns from local residents regarding young people congregating in the Iniscarn Drive area.

“The Neighbourhood Policing Team are holding a meeting to discuss these concerns in the Independent Methodist Church at 7.30pm this Thursday. In the meantime extra patrols have been put into the area as part of efforts to discourage young people from hanging around causing annoyance to the residents.”

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