Six schoolboys were arrested in dawn raids as detectives cracked down on a teenage gang's campaign of terror.

The suspects, aged 15 and 16, were led away in handcuffs yesterday as officers smashed into their Brighton homes.

Police said the gang had been linked to a string of incidents, many alcohol-related, including:

Violent disorder and robberies;

Gatecrashing parties, starting fights and causing "mayhem";

Pushing and shoving members of ethnic minorities in the street and shouting racist abuse.

The arrests came as the police revealed drink-fuelled incidents which needed ambulances called have rocketed by 500 per cent since 2001.

In the worst incident linked to the gang on March 25 four men were attacked in the street when they tried to reason with the thugs.

One was hit with a brick while the others had concrete slabs thrown at them. The gang had travelled by bus to Woodingdean in search of a party to gatecrash.

They vandalised the vehicle and tried to disable it by pulling out wires.

They got off and leapt on to the top of parked cars, denting 14 vehicles in the Langley Crescent and Bexhill Road area.

They carried on their attacks in nearby Sycamore Road and Willow Close, where they began urinating in gardens.

One elderly resident asked them to stop but was warned: "Get the f... back inside". The pensioner, like most in the area, was terrified and locked herself in her home.

One man was pinned to the ground and punched and kicked by five youths. He told police: "Blows were raining down I was punched so many times I lost count."

A neighbour said one boy pushed past him, his eyes fixed on the resident he intended attacking.

The neighbour said: "It looked like he had murder in his eyes."

Police believe the gang may be linked to up to a dozen incidents of crime and disorder across Brighton.

Officers told The Argus they had tried to get parents to control the teenagers but guardians were either unable or unwilling.

Last weekend, violent attacks broke out on The Level, Brighton. A cyclist was pushed to the ground, knocked unconscious, spat upon and robbed of his bike.

Sergeant Simon Starns, of the Neighbourhood Specialist Team (NST) for the Dean estates and North Brighton, said the gang came to the notice of police earlier this year with an increase in drink-related street disorder.

Gangs were using buses and some drivers reported being spat upon and verbally abused.

A number of assaults were reported in the Preston Circus area in February and similar attacks happened at Fiveways.

Two youths were later arrested.

Police have stepped up weekend night patrols and officers are travelling on buses to deter the hooligans.

Chief superintendent Jeremy Paine, head of the city's police, said the reports of extreme disorder were alarming.

He said: "Innocent and sometimes elderly people have been attacked. I take this very seriously and will not hesitate to act swiftly and firmly.

"Their actions are not high jinks. Offenders are aggressive, dangerous thugs who need to know we will not tolerate their behaviour."