YOUTHS who have been making life a misery for residents on a town's estate are to be targeted by police.

Officers have pledged to tackle intimidation, vandalism and other incidents on the Cutpurse estate in Richmond.

The pledge came after a town council meeting where a local woman from the estate appealed for help.

She claimed that her mental and physical health had suffered from the activities of a gang of youths that gathered near the local chip shop.

She said the gang would gather in the early evening and that noise and abuse would continue until late at night.

Sgt Mick Griffiths said moves were being made to tackle the problem and added that talks were underway with Richmondshire District Council as owners of many of the properties.

Meanwhile, despite the problems on the estate, crime levels in the Richmondshire area are still falling, according to police performance figures.

The number of house burglaries has dropped by 14 per cent since April 1998 while commercial property break-ins were down 47 per cent.

The number of vehicle thefts was down 18 per cent, criminal damage by 33 per cent and drugs offences by between 23 per cent and 50 per cent.