ANYONE who has suffered in their homes at the hands of teenage thugs will know what a terrifying ordeal it is.

The indiscriminate nature of the attacks - whether against people or properties - can drive even the most patient of us to distraction.

The majority of our readers, we suspect, will therefore have a good deal of sympathy for the residents of Great Oaty Gardens, in Worcester's Warndon Villages.

Teenagers have been congregating in the park next to their homes and making their lives a misery with late-night drink and drug-fuelled violence.

Homes are regularly vandalised, fights and shouting keep people awake at night and the whole area is littered with beer cans and condoms.

People's lives are being made a misery. And what does the city council propose to do?

It 'hopes' to get National Lottery money so it can redesign the park to move the problem area away from the houses.

This is not good enough.

Action needs to be taken now - not left to the vagaries of charity funding some years down the line. When a mother says she is too scared to be in the house by herself at night, it is obvious the situation has got totally out of control.

The council needs to make representations to the police to reimpose the Section 30 order on the area - so gangs of youths can be sent packing by officers.

Redesign the park? Sure. But let's deal with today's problems first.