RESIDENTS in a West Devon village have called for action to stop what they say is an increasing problem of vandalism by youngsters. A gang of teenage youngsters have been accused of making life a misery for people in Princetown with foul language, vandalism, arson and in one case, an alleged assault. One concerned resident has had enough and has written to Devon and Cornwall's chief constable Stephen Otter to sort the problem out. He told the chief constable: 'They are extremely noisy and agressive, their language is vile and obscene and anyone who protests is subject to horrendous abuse and threats. 'The gang is on the streets most nights to around two or three in the morning. They have damaged cars, set buildings alight, smashed windows, and at least one young mother who protested has been assaulted. 'We need help, not just rhetoric. Constable Dave Pickles and Police Special Community Office Mark Canvin are doing their best, but it is not enough. It is only a matter of time before someone is injured, or heaven help us, killed.' The resident says the children need to be controlled or if not, then their parents should be held responsible. He wants the situation 'nipped in the bud' and is supported by a number of other residents. A spokesman for Princetown Neighbourhood Watch said: 'Much of the disorderly behaviour occurs in the early hours of the morning between midnight and 4am. 'Local residents who have tried to remonstrate with the youngsters have been subjected to abuse and threats. Many are too frightened to complain or ring the police for fear of retaliation.' These residents are calling for villagers to attend the next parish meeting at the Duchy offices in Princetown at 7.30pm on Monday, May 14, to back his appeal for action. The residents have also asked representatives from the police, the Duchy Estate, West Devon Homes, Social Services and the Neighbourhood Watch to attend. David Fisher, chairman of Dartmoor Forest Parish Council, said that when PC Pickles was on patrol in Princetown on a regular basis the situation improved, but since he has been diverted to share his time with patrolling at Horrabridge it had deteriorated. He said: 'We are disappointed at the loss of the constable and we have written to the police at Tavistock about it. 'The vandalism and behaviour problems have made life a misery at times for residents and it's not fair on them it should be allowed to continue.' But he stressed that the actions of a few unruly youngsters did not reflect the majority of law abiding teenagers, many of whom were a credit to the village and were involved in helping to improve its resources. Mr Fisher said that even though the council was limited with a £6,000 budget, it was doing all it could to support local projects such as the Wesley Centre, the conversion of the cricket pavilion to a youth centre, keeping the grass down in the park to encourage games and backing ambitious projects to bring a community centre and skateboard park to Princetown. Insp Ian Milligan of Tavistock police assured the Times that all calls to the police had been responded to by his officers. He said: 'Clearly, there is a problem in Princetown involving a small number of youngsters and many of them would be known to PC Pickles and PCSO Canvin. 'It is important that people know that this is not just an issue of police providing patrols — people need to come forward and provide intelligence and evidence against the individuals, which will allow the police to prosecute and work with other agencies to provide Anti Social Behaviour Orders on those responsible or even have them evicted if they are breaching tenancy agreements. 'I think it is positive there is a keen desire by the village to work with the police. I promise we will work closely with them and other agencies to deal with these issues.' Insp Milligan said that last year there were two police officers for Princetown and Horrabridge but now there was one police officer and two PCSOs, an increase of 50% in manpower. He assured Princetown residents there would be a police presence at the meeting to discuss what could be done to resolve the problems.
