Residents claim they are under siege because of the number of youths using their street as a meeting place.

Young people started meeting near the village hall, in Westgate, Plumpton Green, after closed circuit television was installed at the railway station in the summer. They moved to evade the cameras.

One resident, who asked not to be named, said many people were afraid to go out at night and at weekends because of the youths.

He claimed windows had been broken and graffiti sprayed on the walls of the village hall, young trees ripped up and stones thrown at children.

He said: "People who used to walk their dogs there are just afraid to go out at night time and it is the same mob all the time."

Parish council chairman Richard Taylor said the youths were from Plumpton Green and a number of surrounding villages.

He said: "It is a big problem. The children believe they are above the law - they have told me this. They intimidate you, basically."

The council is organising a meeting between residents, police and parents to try to find a solution. One suggestion, made by police, could be a shelter, with lights, where the youths could go.

District councillor Keith Moorhouse said there was not much for many teenagers to do in the area and some of the youths congregating in Westgate could be "abusive, difficult and intimidating".

He said: "I don't want to take it out of proportion but there is a problem there, which needs to be resolved."