THE victim of a brutal street attack near the Prime Minister's North-East home has called for action to rid the neighbourhood of yobs.

Joe Cunningham, of Trimdon, County Durham, said that despite the Government saying it was fighting crime across the country, Tony Blair's neighbours were frightened to go outside in case they were targeted.

The 61-year-old was kept in hospital overnight after he was attacked by youths outside the village newsagents on Friday.

He said that what began as an altercation with one or two people became a brawl when dozens of teenagers became involved and inflamed the situation.

Mr Cunningham, a retired plumber, said: "One lad started shouting and swearing at me, so I got out of my car and it developed into a push and shove match.

"Then a load of youths got involved and pushed me against the wall. I fell over and punches started raining down on me.

"It calmed down for a while, then started up again when the first lad called someone else to get involved."

He believes an attack of that seriousness would never have happened in the village eight years ago, before Tony Blair was Prime Minister.

Mr Cunningham said: "When our local MP is the Prime Minister, you would expect things to improve.

"He talks about cutting crime and anti-social behaviour, but I have lived in Trimdon 52 years and it is worse than ever.

"I will not be frightened or intimidated by this, but I am determined to see something is done.

"I think drink and drugs are to blame. One lad was hyper and they were all shouting and egging it on. Older people are scared to go out."

Inspector Phil Curtis, of Newton Aycliffe police, said the incident was being investigated as a serious assault and that the local beat team will consider ways of tackling anti-social behaviour.

Insp Curtis said: "We have a Streetsafe scheme to deal with crime and disorder in communities and help people feel safe in the area.

"We have also got a new mobile camera unit, which can be used in areas with persistent problems to identify the culprits.

"The beat officers will look closely at what is happening in Trimdon and consider using these initiatives or a specific operation, possibly with other beat officers, to tackle any specific problems."