MORE police on the streets and more facilities for young people are needed to curb petty crime in St Martins, residents have said.

In Warndon Villages preventing petty crime at people's homes is high on their agenda and in Warndon more needs to be done about the gangs of youths who roam the estate and congregate outside the parade of shops in Cranham Drive..

Royston Cheater, 47, an engineer, of Troutbeck Drive, Warndon, wanted to see more police on the streets.

"I know there is a youth club but there needs to be more for the young people, like a bowling alley in this part of town," he said.

Mr Cheater also called for an increase in the number of bins and street cleaners in the area and said the rise in council tax was "outrageous".

It will be the first year that 18-year-old David Joyner is eligible to vote in the election but he said he had not given it much thought.

Mr Joyner, a civil servant, of Dalegarth Court, Warndon, suggested putting a camera outside the shops in Cranham Drive to deter gangs from causing trouble there.

"The problem is kids haven't got enough to do around here," he said.

Mr Joyner also wanted a taxi rank to help people travel to the city centre and back on a night out.

In Warndon Villages, the calls for more facilities for young people were echoed.

"There needs to be more facilities, probably a bigger playing field," said Gary Lannie, of White Castle in the Berkleys. "We have the youth club at the Lyppard Grange Community Centre but I don't think it is enticing for kids."

Mr Lannie, a 47-year-old retired teacher, said one beat manager was not enough and the police's response time had been very slow.

"I known this is no Sparkhill in Birmingham but it does have its problems. We could do with some sort of leisure centre out here," he said.

Sarah and David Mitchell, of Gawtree, in the Lyppards, want their councillor to work to extend the catchment area of Lyppard Primary School.

They also want to stop any more cuts to the bus service.

"On Plantation Drive there used to be four buses but now that's been cut down to two," she said.

The couple joined the cry for more facilities.

"We were hoping the council would build a playing field for the kids, but it has just been used to build more houses," said Mrs Mitchell.

They also wanted more information from the councillors throughout the year, and not just election times.