A Sunday school teacher and her family are being forced out of their home by violent thugs who have attacked them with bricks, eggs and replica guns.

Christine Black's husband Steve has been shot at twice with an air rifle and their two children have been terrorised for months by vandals who have showered them with missiles and destroyed their property.

They are desperate to leave the Worthing neighbourhood where they have run community events for nearly a decade.

The Blacks say they have been advised by police to take cover when they leave their house in Moore Close, Durrington, because they have been attacked so many times in the garden.

Fighting back tears, Mrs Black, 47, said: "My childhood was spent in Northern Ireland, which was a war zone. It was nothing like this.

"We have had windows smashed. I have been shot with BB guns. I have been threatened. I have had water bombs in my face in the park and I have had bricks thrown at me and insults to my faith.

"We've had tomatoes and eggs thrown at the car. They've put nails under the tyres. We had a brick through the window. Badges have been ripped off my husband's car.

"We have had vomit on the car. Our tyres have been slashed.

"I don't feel comfortable going in the back garden because someone might take a pot-shot."

The Blacks' story is among the most shocking examples of an alarming rise in yob culture in towns across Sussex.

In Worthing, where violent crime rose by ten per cent last year, police have begun filming youths travelling in by train without tickets and drinking in the street. The Blacks' neighbours tell of an estate where a house has been petrol-bombed, cars are routinely set on fire and householders have been assaulted walking to and from the nearby supermarket.

They moved to Moore Close seven years ago and set up a Sunday school at home. Mrs Black said: "About 200 children have come through our doors. It is a very different generation today."

The couple, who have a 12-year-old daughter and ten-year-old son, have decided they have no choice but to move and have put in for a transfer with their landlord, Servite Houses.

Mrs Black said: "We are sad because we love our home. Our daughter was two when we moved in. It was our dream house."

Mr Black, 48, was taking down a sign about a church event when two shots were fired. One pellet embedded itself in the wall next to the front door and the other hit him in the side.

He was taken to hospital for it to be removed. A police spokeswoman said the attack was being investigated. The couple believe they may have been targeted because of their faith. Mrs Black said: "I don't just go to church on a Sunday. I am a Christian 24-seven. I still pray for this estate."

A Servite Houses spokeswoman said: "We are working as hard as we can with the police and the council to deal with this situation."