Halloween became a night of genuine fear as "mob rule" took hold of a village.

Terrified residents hid in their homes as hordes of teenagers roamed the streets of Vigo last night, throwing fireworks at cars, pelting homes with pumpkins and intimidating villagers.

VIDEO: The teenagers launch a pumpkin at a house

Police say they were called just after 7.30pm to The Bay in Vigo, to reports of a group of young people causing a disturbance, but say the group had left the area by the time officers arrived and no arrests were made.

But villagers say problems continued through the night.

One resident, who was too scared to be named, said: "It was like a mob. There were about 40 to 50 of them all together.

"They were setting off fireworks - it was just so dangerous. They were holding the fireworks and throwing them into the road. At one point I saw the holding the base of the rockets and aiming them at cars driving past.

"They were walking past someone's house, then picked up a pumpkin and threw it at the house.

"There was another one that ran over the top of a neighbour's car.

"It was like mob rule. The police came out but they didn't do much. They dispersed and the van drove away.

"They fired a rocket at the police van.

"It was just crazy. I felt quite scared and intimidated. There's also elderly people in the area and I'm sure they felt quite vulnerable."

The yobs were caught on CCTV outside a home in Fern Down, Vigo.

Footage shows one of them stealing a pumpkin before hurling it at a front door, and then running away.

"I thought they'd broken my window at first," said the home owner, who did not want to be named. "They spent the whole evening terrorising the whole village. Enough is enough."

"It was just crazy. I felt quite scared and intimidated. There's also elderly people in the area and I'm sure they felt quite vulnerable" - Frightened villager

He said anti social behaviour had been increasing in the village over the past few months but had risen to a climax last night.

"I felt physically sick," he added. "My wife said to me 'I've had enough' and I feel the same way today.

"I think some of the parents need to look at the video carefully and think about what their children were doing."

Elsewhere, residents reported gangs of youths causing havoc in streets around Gravesend.

Some reported teenagers stealing pumpkins along Rochester Road, while in Portland Avenue and Shrubbery Road a group of around 12 teenagers was seeing throwing eggs at houses and smashing pumpkins.

Another reported children stealing from a charity donation pot outside a house.