A GANG of youths is terrorising people living on a deprived housing estate.

Each night, teenagers gather in Ladysmith Court, south Stanley, drinking and causing trouble.

One woman, who asked not to be named, said youths had attacked residents and nearly succeeded in setting fire to a block of flats. They have also wrecked cars and cut off the electricity supply to homes.

She said the most terrifying ordeal was when the gang set fire to two cars parked outside her home.

She said: "We were asleep and heard something outside, then saw a flash of light through the window.

"We looked out and the cars were on fire. If they had exploded, the whole place would have gone up.

"It is getting to the point where someone is going to get seriously hurt."

An H-registration Ford Orion car was stolen from the estate at the start of the month, and resulted in a police chase. The 21-year-old driver and three teenage passengers were arrested.

But residents feel powerless to stop the youths from running riot on the estate, which is in the top five per cent most deprived areas in the UK.

The resident said: "There are loads of them hanging around every night. They smash up our electricity meters and are turning off the power.

"If I go out and say anything to them, all I get is a mouthful of abuse."

Acting Chief Inspector Ian Proud, of Derwentside police, said: "We are taking positive steps and our detached youth workers are doing some good work down there.

"There is a lot of evidence of kids drinking and some evidence of cannabis use, but these are kids with nothing to do and nowhere to go. Sooner or later, they end up in trouble."

Durham Police Authority is looking to introduce community support officers - uniformed officers with limited powers - and south Stanley is one of three areas in Derwentside to be given priority.

"We have had an extra contribution for the Stanley Green Corridor area, which means we can deploy twice as many of these officers in this area," said Acting Chief Insp Proud.

"This is not to harass the kids, but will hopefully develop more things for them to do and make the quality of life better for residents."