A POSTMASTER whose post office was firebombed by vandals says he is trapped on a crime-hit Teesside shopping estate.

David Whitehouse, postmaster at Eston shopping precinct, says no one is interested in buying his post office because vandals put off potential investors.

Tonight, Mr Whitehouse and fellow traders will meet councillors and council officers in an attempt to persuade the authority to take further action to clean up the precinct.

More security cameras have been installed in the area after a 1,500-name petition was handed in late last year.

A supermarket chain has council permission to demolish 20 units on the precinct to build a store.

However, those proposals have been the subject of discussion for three years but have so far come to nothing.

Now traders and shoppers are hoping that a new regime at Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council and the election of three Eston Independents, including chairman of the Eston Residents' Association Ann Higgins who unseated the previous council leader, may improve the situation.

Walking around the vandal-hit estate Mr Whitehouse pointed to damage at his property after the fire last March. He also pointed to the smashed front window of his post office.

He said: "There are often about 40 or 50 vandals hanging around at night and the situation has got worse and worse for the past two-and-a-half years.

"It's got to the point where shoppers will not come and you see a lot a shops closing at one o'clock in the afternoon these days. We need the police to maintain a high presence and the council to become more involved."

Tony Scott, who has owned Tony's Fruit and Veg Store since 1985, said: "It goes through phases where the problem seems to be getting sorted out and then we go back to square one. There is a lot of traders who say their property is simply unsaleable."

The authority funded the installation of security cameras and have brokered several meetings with traders and supermarket negotiators. Community wardens and police have stepped up patrols over the past three years.

No one was available for comment from the council last night.