'SCARED' children have called for a metal gate to be locked at night to protect a community from a gang of rampaging teen 'marauders'.
Sleep-deprived brothers Ewan and Oliver Windross have seen - and heard - the vandalism in and around Gamekeepers Drive in Brickfields.
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Ewan, nine, and Oliver, six, are the youngest to sign a petition calling for a pathway gate to be padlocked at night.
Some residents in Warndon and Brickfields have even given chase to the youths and had stones thrown at their homes for their trouble.
Neighbours want the gate between Gamekeepers Drive and the Fairfield Centre in Carnforth Drive shut off.
A spokesperson for landowners Worcestershire County Council said plans to install a more secure fence would require planning permission - and locking the gate may attract more vandalism.
Cllr Jill Desayrah, who launched the petition, said there was ongoing anti-social behaviour by a 'rampaging' group of around six teenagers between the ages of 13 to 15.
She described them as wreaking havoc on the people of Warndon and Brickfields with their 'nightly revels'.
Teens have been climbing up a pipe onto the roof of Fairfield Day Nursery and the roof of Buttercup Children's Centre and breaking the skylight at Warndon Library.
They have also been letting off fireworks, kicking and damaging fences and making noise while playing in a park intended for children with disabilities in Regency High School.
Ewan, a pupil at Tudor Grange Primary Academy Perdiswell, said: "I feel a bit mad about all that's happened.
"I've seen people climbing up roofs, climbing over fences and doing all sorts of stuff and playing around on people's property. I've seen one of them kick down a fence.
"I ran away because I did not want them to see me.
"I did feel a bit scared when I saw them kicking the fence. They have woken me up a few times late at night and I was tired at school the next day."
His mum, 37-year-old Hannah Windross, has called West Mercia Police, initially concerned for the welfare of the young teenagers.
Mrs Windross added: "They could break their necks if they fall off the roof.
"After lockdown, it got worse.
"When we first moved in nine years ago it was regularly locked and we did not have any problems.
"My children have been up at night. It's hard for them to get to sleep when there's all that ruckus going on out the back."
"Residents are absolutely hacked off. They're losing sleep and their quality of life is in the toilet," said Cllr Desayrah.
"I have even heard of residents giving chase in the early hours of the morning."
Councillor Marcus Hart, cabinet member for communities at Worcestershire County Council, said: “We are aware of the situation at Fairfield Centre and are taking proactive action to install a more secure and higher fence around the perimeter to keep the site secure and reduce vandalism.
"The structure of this fence requires planning permission.
"We have been taking advice from our police colleagues on the management of the site and have not locked the gate on an evening as experience suggests that it creates more vandalism.
"We will, however, seek further advice on how best to manage the site.”
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