by Lucy Buckland

lucy.buckland@essnmedia.co.uk

A gang of boys – some as young as 10 – who terrorised an estate to impress girls can now be banned from the area after police landed extra powers.

Kenley Safer Neighbourhood Team (SNT) has drawn-up a dispersal order after a gang of six children terrorised people on St Winifred's Estate, on Welcomes Road.

This order means if they come into the estate they can be issued with a warning not to come back for 24 hours and if they do they will get arrested.

SNT Sergeant Paul Potter said the group, who is not from Kenley, travelled into the estate to impress girls who lived nearby but their behaviour meant families were afraid to leave their homes.

He added: "These children were setting off fireworks, knocking on people's doors until late into the night, damaging people's homes and generally shouting and swearing and being a nuisance.

"This is an extra tool in our box to stamp out anti social behaviour on the estate for good."

The order, which also covers Kenley train station and Norfolk Parade, started on Monday and will run for three months.

Roger Capham, chairman of Kenley Safer Neighbourhood Panel, said: "The problem is these boys are not local people. They are coming from afar, they get a free bus ticket to Kenley for a night of fun and run amok."Whether this order will work is another matter. We have tried talking to these children and we get called a load of busy bodies.

"Everyone understands sometimes cChildren misbehave but nowadays they are more aggressive."

Kenley PC Gareth Stoner, who spearheaded the order, said it was the last resort after police tried to talk to youngsters to stop the brawls.

"We were trying to be nice and talk to young people, but it just didn't work. Now we will just have to wait and see if this works," he said.