Kids armed with flame-throwers
CHILDREN armed with homemade flame-throwers are threatening to drive villagers out of their own homes, according to a councillor.
Councillor Paul Bellenger (Lib Dem, Greetland & Stainland) told members of Calderdale Council that anti-social behaviour had been rife in Stainland for about 18 months and residents have “had enough.”
Stainland’s anti-social behaviour officer had worked tirelessly to deal with issues but needed help “to nip it in the bud for good,” he said.
“Over the past two evenings we have had fires in parks, we have had kids making flame-throwers out of pipes and gas canisters, knocking on people’s windows.
“We have had some roadworks in the middle of Stainland that have actually closed the road for two days.
“They’ve been removing barriers and allowing vehicles through, charging people in vehicles £2 to come through,” said Councillor Bellenger.
He said residents were at the end of their tolerance and people were actually threatening to move out of Stainland.
With the anti-social behaviour officer on his own the plea was for help from the council’s community wardens to deal with the problems, he said.
Leader of the council, Clr Tim Swift, said some of the issues were clearly for the police rather than the anti-social behaviour team.
He said contacting officers directly might be more useful and serious problems might need coordinated action including the police and possibly the fire service.