RESIDENTS in one area of Newport have been left terrified after a spate of anti-social behaviour in which their front doors have been kicked late at night.

People living in and around Cromwell Road have reported their doors being knocked on or kicked late at night - sometimes as late as 2.30am.

The Argus has seen CCTV footage from a doorbell camera in the area recorded just before midnight on Saturday, May 13, which shows a man covering his face before kicking a door before running away. At least one other person can be seen running away in the background.

Ward member Cllr Alan Morris said: “We have been having reports of youths knocking or kicking doors and running away in and around Cromwell Road.

“It’s causing a lot of distress to families, especially people living on their own like the elderly. These kids are setting out to cause trouble, with some of them old enough to know better.

“It is not fun and has gone too far, they need to know the consequences of their actions and parents must question why their children are out that time of night.”

This comes following a trend on social media in which young people record themselves kicking doors at a specific point of the song Die Young by American singer Kesha.

Ward Councillor Andrew Sterry added: “We have been having a lot of incidents the last few months.

“These youths have now moved to kicking doors and running away. They use the back of their foot and it is terrifying a lot of the older residents, even the younger ones with small children.

“We don’t know if it relates to the new social media trend, but it is appearing to be very similar and happens at all times of the day.

“It could be early evening to early hours in the morning and we have them on footage, we have caught a couple of 12-to-16-year-olds doing it.

“Their parents did the right thing by getting their children to go to the house to apologise for what they are doing, but some are still doing it and it’s not good as some doors have been damaged.”

Gwent Police was contacted for comment.