A GANG of up to 30 youngsters is causing havoc in a village after being moved on by police from other parts of Gwent.

Officers say youths are drinking alcohol, taking drugs and damaging property in Ponthir after being forced out of Newport and Caerleon by tough policing.

Extra patrols are to be stepped up as police say youths are from as far away as Gaer, and some are even taking taxis and buses to Ponthir.

Chairwoman of Ponthir community council Jenny Nancarrow said: "People are getting very concerned. Some of the elderly people have been too frightened to go out because of this behaviour.

"They are very noisy, shouting and screaming, ripping signs down and throwing them at cars, throwing empty cans at cars.

"They congregate by the village hall and leave lots of empty beer cans and bottles.

"I feel sorry for some of the kids because they have got nowhere else to go. But something needs to be done before it gets out of hand. We need a stronger police presence."

Police have been called to Ponthir on numerous occasions in recent weeks to disperse gangs of youths.

PC Darrell Dewar, crime and disorder reduction officer for Cwmbran, said: "Officers in Caerleon and Newport are enforcing the law vigorously, so now the kids have decided to go to Ponthir for some reason.

"They are coming from as far away as the Gaer and St Julians, and parents have been seen dropping them off in cars.

"The numbers that they are going round in is quite intimidating for the people of Ponthir. We know a small minority are even doing drugs and drinking alcohol."

Community councillor Kay Jones added: "There are a lot of frightened people in the village.

"There is a lot of noise and intimidation, and people are afraid because a lot of property has been damaged."

<bold>GANG PROBLEM WIDESPREAD</bold>

PONTHIR is the latest of a number of small communities in Gwent to fall victim to anti-social behaviour.

Police in Cwmbran and Pontypool have been given powers of dispersal to move gangs of anti-social youths.

Only last week we reported how gangs of up to 50 youths in Pontnewynydd, Pontypool, are making life hell for residents, and in Newport rising levels of anti-social behaviour prompted police to send letters to parents of pupils at three schools.

Then on Friday Gwent Police's chief constable, Mike Tonge, called for parents to be "brought to book" for their children's bad behaviour.

The new get-tough approach to anti-social behaviour could see police taking anti-social youths home to discuss their behaviour with their parents, parents being shown CCTV footage of their children's bad behaviour and perpetrators of crime having to meet their victims.