TOUGHER policing is wanted by residents in Crewe to combat rampaging yobs who are setting off fireworks horizontally across streets, intimidating them, and smashing windows.

Louts in the Valley ward have also smashed residential windows, attacked buses with missiles, stolen and smashed streetlights, and broken windows of cars with one vehicle having six out of its eight windows broken.

The New Testament Church of God on Stewart Street had every window smashed a fortnight ago.

Area councillor, Dave Crum, is demanding a crackdown by police.

He said: "People in the Valley ward and, in particular, those living in and around the Alton Street and Stewart Street area, have had enough of wantonly criminal activities that go on in the neighbourhood and the apparent lack of police intervention.

"This has been going on for some months now with youths not only letting off fireworks but aiming rockets and other fireworks horizontally along streets and paths.

"I've witnessed Roman candle type fireworks being set off under hedges and in alleyways.

"Regularly residents complain to me about lines of cars that have been vandalised at night with wing mirrors being kicked off and smashed.

"The situation is now coming to head with a series of attacks on property."

Chief Inspector of Crewe police, Robin Crorie, said: "We are very pleased Councillor Crum is encouraging people to report incidents of vandalism.

"The offenders who are vandalising vehicles and other property in the Valley Ward are not coming in from the outside; we believe they are nearly all local, and in many cases somebody knows who they are.

"We can appreciate local people may feel inhibited about naming names, but that is very helpful in solving problems of this kind.

"Every report of crime is recorded and assessed, some require a personal police response and others do not, but we use all those reports to identify a pattern of offending.

"From that we can identify both offenders and areas where particular problems are developing."