POLICE have been accused of failing to tackle rowdy youths who make pensioners' lives a misery.

Elderly residents are living in fear of teenagers who gather in gangs outside their homes at Dipton, near Stanley, said local councillor Reg Ord.

Coun Ord, an Independent on Derwentside and Durham County councils, said people were not happy with the response of the police when they called for help.

He said he was annoyed that Durham Police Authority was putting an under-spend of £2.7m into reserves instead of tackling the problem.

Coun Ord, who has complained to Chief Constable Paul Garvin, said youths were drinking taking drugs, urinating against walls, and having sex in sight of pensioners' homes.

He said: "The old folks have had no quality of life for months.

"They have been drawing their curtains at 4pm in summer months.

"They are literally prisoners in their own homes.''

Coun Ord said he was told that the police response time to complaints was 21 minutes, which he felt was not good enough.

He said: "People are suffering. There is little or no response from the police. People have said it is a waste of time calling them.

"The police say they respond but they have priorities, which is understandable, but I don't know why Dipton seems to be neglected. When I first approached them and explained the situation, they said there were no resources.

"I am annoyed to find out the under-spend is being carried forward to next year. The money should be utilised to help solve the problems we have.''

A Durham Police spokeswoman said: " We do acknowledge there is a problem. The kids tend to meet in quite large groups. Mostly, the problem is drink and drug abuse.''

Problems flared on Friday and Saturday nights when the force received more calls for help, which were prioritised.

She said measures, some long-term and involving other agencies, were being taken, adding: "This weekend, we have our beat support unit going to the area and beat officers are making the problem a priority when they are out on patrol."

The spokeswoman said the under-spends had occurred in force-wide budgets allocated for specific purposes.