NEIGHBOURS say they are still being ‘terrorised’ by drug dealing and gangs of youths throwing stones at their homes from a nearby city nature reserve.

Gorse Hill and Elbury Mount Nature Reserve in Worcester continues to be a hotspot for disorder according to residents in nearby Kenwood Drive who are reaching the end of their tether with congregating youths, speeding cars, illegal motorbike riding and drug dealing.

A drive to stamp out anti-social behaviour in the area, which contains the highest point in Worcester and offers spectacular views of the city and the Malvern Hills, led Worcester City Council to believe that anti-social behaviour had reduced in the last year – but residents have told local councillors the problems are far from over.

READ MORE: Man who tried to argue building was 'caravan' told to demolish it

Gorse Hill councillor Mohammad Altaf said the trouble had not stopped and continued his call for CCTV cameras to be installed which he believes would help catch drug dealers and bring an end to the nightmare for neighbours.

“The issue is that we have a lot of alleyways between Kenwood Avenue and there are a lot of residents complaining that at night there is a lot of drug dealing going on in those alleys,” he said at the communities committee meeting.

“If we can put gates in those alleys at certain times, especially at night when there is a lot of drug dealing and the motorbikes are going up and down Kenwood Avenue.”

After Cllr Altaf’s point was raised, the council said it was “not aware” of any further anti-social behaviour since first speaking to residents in September last year.

It has not received any more complaints from either the residents or reports from police but admitted it was usually ‘seasonal’ and could return again during the summer school holidays.

Cllr James Stanley, who also represents Gorse Hill, said the problems were 'on-off' throughout the year and tended to become worse during school holidays and lighter nights.

"CCTV is something that we would really like to get installed permanently," he said. "But it's very difficult to do because of significant demand elsewhere.

"I think with the measures that we are hopefully going to get and also the stuff that is taking place at the moment, we'll see a real significant improvement up there," he said.

The council spoke to nearly 50 residents living around the nature reserve last year with many asking for the return of CCTV that was installed temporarily two years ago.

Severn Trent Water did install barriers to prevent people from riding motorbikes on the nature reserve, but they can still be bypassed with a little effort.

The council also said that some maintenance repairs, if carried out, would “change the feel of the area for visitors.”

The council set aside an “indicative” £50,000 to tackle the anti-social behaviour problem in last year’s budget and is still working with Severn Trent Water, which owns an underground reservoir on the site, and Worcestershire County Council to tidy up the green space.