Police have stepped in to quell rowdy youngsters following an elderly couple's desperate plea.

George Mowbray, who is in his 80s, has told how on one occasion he had to step in to break up a fight between two groups of teenagers of both sexes on his front lawn in Frinton's Rochford Way.

On another occasion, he said, he and his wife suffered abusive gestures and mouthing from young men who had parked their car halfway across the couple's driveway.

The anti-social behaviour, he said, came after he asked the youths to move so he could gain access to his property.

Several times youths had used the driveway as a football pitch with the bus shelter across the road as the other goal.

Mr Mowbray, whose wife is also in her 80s, said: "We have been at the receiving end of these activities on several occasions over the past 18 months and are beginning to find dealing with these youngsters more than we can cope with."

In a letter to Frinton and Walton Town Council he claimed the area of Rochford Way where he lived seemed to have been "taken over by a certain group of young people bent on bringing the environmental standards down to an unacceptable level."

Councillors heard at their meeting last night that the matter had been taken up with the police who had contacted the couple to reassure them.

Published Monday October 14, 2002

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