Residents on a Pembroke estate are being made ``prisoners'' in their own homes because of teenagers causing a nuisance during the early hours of the morning.
Complaints to the Police and the two main political parties have failed to stop the problems close to St. Augustine's Church.
And one resident believes that the trouble could escalate into violence unless action is taken soon.
Police are monitoring the situation and a parish constable will follow up on the latest complaints.
The complainant, who asked not to be named, said the teenagers were noisy and abusive when confronted by residents living on St. Augustine's Hill. They had already led one resident to threaten them with a machete in a desperate attempt to stop the noise.
The complainant said: "Our neighbourhood is just being over-run with unruly kids. I left the area for a year but when I came back the situation was really bad.
"We see groups of youths hanging around in the parking lot of the church until the early hours. They are basically turning it into another 42nd Street.
"They are up all night kicking a football against the church walls and acting in an unruly way.
"When they are confronted by people they become abusive and threatening.
It is quite frightening.'' He added that the gangs often numbered from half a dozen to a "few dozen.'' He said they were aged from 14 to 17.
The area has a mix of young and old people and "the older people were prisoners in their own homes at night because of the activities of the youths.
"The youths were there during a recent church service playing soccer in the parking lot and the other night they disappeared about 9.30 p.m. and then returned at 1.30 a.m. and were there until the early hours of the morning.'' While politicians had promised to rectify the situation by urging the involvement of local clubs, the resident said the situation continued to get worse.
He said: "We have reported this to both political parties and to the Police but nothing appears to have been done.
"I believe that unless something is done soon someone is going to get hurt.
It is getting frustrating.
"Where are the parents of these kids? Don't they know they are out this late?'' Police public relations officer Sgt. Roseanda Jones confirmed some complaints had been made to Police about youngsters playing football in the road in the early hours of the morning and generally causing a nuisance.
She said a parish constable would be taking a close look at the problems.
