GANGS of youths with mobile telephones are causing problems in Darlington.

Over the last two weeks, people living in the North Road area of the town have been plagued by gangs of youngsters causing disturbances outside their homes.

The nuisance ranges from rowdiness and drunkenness to the youths banging on windows at night and waking up young children.

The problems have been occurring between the White Horse roundabout and the Morrison's store.

But whenever police turn up to disperse the gangs, they often reappear again within minutes.

The reason is that many of the youths carry mobile telephones which makes it easier for them to arrange to meet up if they are separated.

Inspector Sue Collingwood, of Darlington police, said: "Before the children started carrying mobile telephones, it would often take them ten to twenty minutes to regroup, and even then, they might not have come back in the same numbers.

"But because so many now have the phones, they can be back on scene within minutes and often after police officers have left."

One resident, who asked not to be named, said the youths were causing a real problem.

"There are often 20 or more kids in the street and they are very noisy and sometimes aggressive," she said.

"The police do their best, but the youths always seem to come back after they have been chased away."

Police have the power to confiscate alcohol from youths in the street and can also take them home to their parents.

Insp Collingwood said: "The youths are probably getting an older person to buy their alcohol, but we would urge local off-licences to look out for people buying more than they normally would."

Local beat officer Sergeant Graham Hill said police wanted the public to report any offences committed by youths in the area.

But, he urged residents to differentiate between young people just hanging around and those actually causing an offence before calling police on (01325) 467681.