People say they are prisoners in their own homes because gangs of up to 30 yobs are wreaking havoc on a housing estate in Lordswood.

Neighbours living in Whimbrel Walk are too scared to confront the teenagers who hurl rocks and stones at their windows – causing hundred of pounds worth of damage.

Schoolgirls have reportedly been using gardens as toilets, cars have been vandalised, homes broken into and shrubbery trashed in their trail of destruction.

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The latest trouble flared at the end of last month leaving Ken and Elaine Brazier and their four children so traumatised that they have paid out for CCTV in a bid to catch the vandals.

Daughter Emma Brazier, 21, started an online petition and has collected 80 signatures from residents living nearby to prompt the police to take action.

One of the worst incidents was when her sister Jessica, 17, was surrounded by about 20 of them, mostly girls aged between 13 to 16, in North Dane Way.

Video: Families under attack - Jem Collins reports

As the Walderslade Girls’ School sixth-former tried to flee to safety she managed to call Emma who drove over with boyfriend Richard Payne, 28, to rescue her.

Emma, a barmaid at Holcombe Hockey Club in Rochester, said: “When I got there one of the girls grabbed and pulled my hair. I dread to think what could have happened if we had not got to her.”

"People are petrified to leave their own home. People's houses are being smashed to pieces..." - Emma Brazier

The following day the Braziers were in their back garden when they heard a loud crashing sound coming from their living room. A large sharp object shattered their double-glazed window – spraying debris everywhere.

Elaine, 49, said: “A few minutes before and one of could have been sitting there and seriously hurt.”

Mrs Brazier was so shocked by the attack she had to take sick leave from her job at Gatwick Airport.

She said: “We have lived here 17 years and I like it here and we get on with our neighbours. Half of me says I would move out tomorrow if I could and the other half says, why should I? I am still too scared to go outside and don’t like to leave the house unattended.

“It just seems the police aren’t doing anything and [the vandals] are getting away with it. They just laugh in your face when you ask why they are doing it.”

Emma added: “People are petrified to leave their own home. People’s houses are being smashed to pieces and homeowners are the ones having to pay for things to be replaced. Homeowners are at their wits’ end.”

The Braziers, who also have two sons Mark, 23, and Paul, 13, have, written to their Chatham MP Tracey Crouch who said she would look into the matter.

Mrs McCarthy, 80, added: “Sometimes if you go out they can become more aggressive. It just seems their parents don’t have any control over them.”

A police spokesman said: “We are investigating alleged criminal damage in Whimbrel Walk, Chatham, between 6.30pm and 7pm on May 26. It is reported that a stone was thrown at a house window causing it to break.

“A girl has been interviewed under caution.”

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