A FRUSTRATED Littleham man believes living in part of the village is like being in hell , claiming yobs continue to torment residents lives. Despite news the area has become a dispersal zone under new police powers, George Johnson, of Liverton Close, sa

A FRUSTRATED Littleham man believes living in part of the village is like being in 'hell', claiming yobs continue to torment residents' lives.

Despite news the area has become a dispersal zone under new police powers, George Johnson, of Liverton Close, said trouble has continued to flare up.

As testament to the level of trouble, Exmouth police have also revealed plans to issue youths with anti-social behaviour orders.

Mr Johnson, who is registered disabled after suffering from pesticide poisoning a number of years ago, said behavioural problems caused by gangs of youths were getting worse rather than better.

"We are having police vans coming up here daily at the moment - they are constantly backwards and forwards.

"The trouble is still really bad. A lot of people who live here are living in fear and are scared to go out of their homes.

"Recently I have had a recycling bin set on fire which was left dumped on the grass and also had some graffiti sprayed on my front porch."

Mr Johnson, who lives in warden-assisted sheltered accommodation, said the trouble has become so bad one lady who lived on Liverton Close has installed CCTV to try and ward off problems.

He added: "One of my neighbours had obscene language scrawled in blood on her gate which was extremely unpleasant. The blood was also daubed onto cars.

"What's really sad about it is that this kind of behaviour has been allowed to go on. This has been happening for months."

Mr Johnson believes the youths who loitered around were targeting the area because there were a lot of vulnerable people and nobody was in a position to chase them away.

Exmouth sergeant Phil Godfrey said prior to the emergence of problems in Liverton Close, the police hardly ever received complaints from Littleham residents.

"Over the past two years the Littleham beat team have done a huge amount of work to engage will all sections of the community and have jointly addressed some of the issues that affect quality of life.

"All the work of residents, partner agencies and the police is in danger of being undone by a minority who consider themselves free to do as they please."

Sergeant Godfrey said it was because of this police had implemented section 30 dispersal powers in line with the Anti-Social Behaviour Act 2003 and gain evidence to support applications for ASBOs.