VANDALISM in an area of Tavistock has got so bad that residents say they will take matters into their own hands to protect their property.

Some homeowners, incensed by regular episodes of window smashing, intimidation, and youths using their driveways as toilets, have lost faith in the police and say they have little choice but to confront the vandals themselves.

Tom Paterson, 62, who lives in the Crease Lane area, said he had been unable to sleep in two weeks: 'I have had enough. It has not only happened to me but nearly all my neighbours as well.

'The police do not seem to want to help —they seem unwilling to want to do something, but isn't this what the police are being paid for?

'I now stand on my driveway with my pick-axe handle waiting for the vandals. I have been told that if I confront them I could come off worst but I can't just let them get away with it.

'When you are retired you should be enjoying yourself, not having to stay outside till 3am protecting your property. It is a sad state of affairs.'

Mr Paterson has had windows and doors smashed on his house and people urinating and defecating on his drive. He said the problem had been going on for about a year now and even though someone was caught on a neighbour's CCTV camera, the case had failed to get to court because the Crown Prosecution Service said the image was not good enough.

'There is a lady up the lane who has been poorly and she had her windows smashed — when she confronted them her house was attacked with eggs. This really incensed me. These people are causing untold grief to local residents.'

Another resident, Brian Cole, said a lot of people, many of whom were elderly, were too scared to say anything for fear of repercussions. He said he believed some of the youngsters causing the trouble were as young as 10 or 11.

'All the way up Crease Lane people have either had windows broken or have been broken into. It needs to be sorted out.'

Sheila Stanley said the police had been pretty quick off the mark when a chainsaw was stolen from her property and they had 'had words' with some of the youngsters.

'The trouble is that youngsters who are up to these sorts of tricks just laugh at the police,' she said.

PCSO Kevin Williams said he had put in a request for the area to be covered more often but there were other areas of the town which, on paper, suffered more anti-social behaviour.

'This year in the whole of the Crease Lane, Buctor and Uplands area there have been 12 reports of anti-social behaviour, seven of which were within households and five others involving youths.'

He said if people did not bother to call the police every time there was an incident then the evidence was not there to put more resources into the area.

'Unfortunately, in this instance we have not had the calls to justify spending more time in Crease Lane,' he said.

Meetings were held once a month to discuss anti-social behaviour where names of people causing problems came up and action plans devised to deal with it.

The officer said letters were sent out to parents and in the majority of cases the anti-social behaviour stopped before it got to an ASBO.

PCSO Williams said he would not recommend residents to deal with incidents themselves but to call the police who would respond immediately if there was a chance of catching the people in the act.

He said he had offered residents of Crease Lane security advice to protect their properties.