A DISTRAUGHT mother and her children have been driven from their home by teenage yobs.

Helen Kenner and her neighbours have recorded a video catalogue of the campaign of terror being waged in the streets of Littlemoor, Weymouth.

Their footage shows young thugs in Magnolia Close deliberately kicking footballs at houses late at night, swearing and threatening to kill those who intervene.

Other videos show the youngsters firing BB pellet guns, throwing stones and declaring that the street is theirs. Mrs Kenner, 26, says the final straw came when the yobs started victimising her 18-month-old daughter Tahlia because she suffers from cerebral palsy.

She said: "I feel like I'm falling apart and I haven't slept properly for days.

"My doctor has given me medication for anxiety because I can't even hold a cup of coffee at the moment without it spilling in my hand.

"I'm now sharing a double bed withmy three eldest kids while Tahlia sleeps nearby."

Mrs Kenner and her children are spending nights with the children's grandmother, Sally Moore, while Mrs Kenner's husband Rob guards their home.

Mr Kenner, 26, said: "The problems started a few weeks after we moved in.

"It was around 2am and the kids were all in the street shouting.

"I went out and asked them to keep it down and told them my daughter, who suffers from cerebral palsy, was asleep upstairs.

"Their reply was: 'So what?' "

The Kenners claimed that calls for action from the police and Knightstone Housing Association, which leases properties in the area, have had no real effect.

The Kenners' pleas for help have been echoed by residents Karen Sansom and Moira Lewton, who have also been subjected to verbal abuse and threats.

Mrs Sansom said: "We've given up on the PACT (Partners and Communities Together) meetings because they're achieving nothing.

"We're now trying to set up our own group for anyone with problems like these to try to work together to resolve them."

Mrs Lewton said: "My husband and I moved here two years ago from London.

"When we first came here it was via Osmington and I said this is one of the most beautiful places I've ever been to.

"I want to live here but it's hard.

"I'm now saying that enough is enough and that's why we're now being targeted."

Insp Pete Meteau of Weymouth police said: "There's an ongoing situation in Littlemoor and we will respond to reports of any criminal activity. We are working together with the housing association and the council to resolve this situation."

He added that officers have not seen the video footage of the anti-social behaviour taking place.

Lynette Nigh, assistant director of housing for Knightstone Housing Association, said: "We take situations like this extremely seriously, to the extent that we have a specialist team that deals with nothing but anti-social behaviour."

She added that if strong evidence' of anti-social behaviour is received by the association that it has the power, in extreme cases, to evict and get injunctions against any problem tenants involved. Mrs Lewton urges anyone in the area who has suffered similar problems to email her on neighbours-unite@hotmail.co.uk

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