VILLAGERS have spoken out against a gang of teenage hooligans who they say are making their lives a misery.

The villagers from one street in Pelton Lane Ends, near Chester-le-Street, say the gang have: smashed house windows while people were still inside; strewn rubbish in old people's gardens; hurled abuse at residents and kept neighbours awake until 3am and 4am with loud, thumping music.

They are asking Chester-le-Street District Council to evict the resident of one home in the street to try to end the trouble.

A mother of two sons, who has not been named for safety reasons said: "It's pure hell here now.

"There used to be no problems here, but there's one house now where they can all congregate. There's older people on the street who have been here 40 years, but now they're desperate to leave.

"The police have been great but there's only so much we can do."

Inspector Ken Cook of Chester-le-Street police said: "We take situations like this very, very seriously. We will not tolerate the quality of people's lives being interfered with and we will take action whenever we have evidence and are empowered to do so.

"I would stress to people across the district who find themselves in situations like this to call the police."

A spokesman for the council said the residents needed to help the council collect evidence of trouble