ELDERLY residents have demanded action after claiming young yobs had been terrorising them and making life a misery.

The pensioners from Bridgewater Court, Bank Top, Blackburn, say their windows are being pelted with stones and eggs, cars are being vandalised and that when they challenge the teenagers they are given mouthfuls of abuse.

One resident told a public meeting how her bedroom was set on fire in retaliation after complaining to the yobs.

A police chief at the meeting in St Luke with St Phillip's Church, Hancock Street, pledged that more would be done.

A retired teacher, who said she had been sent to the meeting to act as spokesperson for the residents in the Twin Valley Homes properties, told how she had tried to put a stop to the children's behaviour herself.

She said: "I was going out and telling the children off, but the police came and told me I was antagonising them and getting victimised.

"I was told like the problem was my fault.

"I have had fire pushed through my bedroom window. It is terrible."

Chief Superintendent David Mallaby replied: "I think one of the things we have to be careful about is saying all young people are involved in juvenile nuisance when they are not.

"I understand sometimes in a town like Blackburn that there are limited opportunities for young people to go and it causes all sorts of problems.

"We are about to do a lot more. I have to say that juvenile nuisance in the area has gone down over a number of years.

"The difficulty is if you are subjected to it on your street then it hasn't gone down and the figures don't matter."

Bridgewater Court is for people over the age of 60 and has 26 studios and 16 one-bedroomed flats.