A COUPLE who moved to the valleys from England for a quieter life say they are having second thoughts after they were shot at as they renovated a house.

The windows in the front door of the house on King Street, Cwm, were shattered and a double-glazed window was also damaged and will have to be replaced.

Keith and Chris Moore, of Queen Street, Blaenavon -- who are originally from Hertfordshire -- own the house and are renovating it for their daughter, Joanne, to move into sometime in the summer.

Mr Moore said: "We bought the house last November and we've had no trouble until recently.

"In the last ten days we have had pellets fired at the house and obscene graffiti scrawled on the front window sill.

"I don't know whether this is a long-term problem because I have just moved to the area but I have been told Cwm is a close-knit community but now and again things like this tend to happen.

"Fortunately we have double glazing but if we hadn't it would have gone straight through and could have caused some serious damage."

He said: "We are going to have our daughter move in and elderly relatives will be coming to visit and we don't want them to put them under that pressure."

Mrs Moore said: "What concerns me is that if these pellets went into anybody's eye or head it could kill them.

"We moved here for a safer and quieter way of life but now I'm not so sure. "We have been reassured by police that this kind of behaviour is not the norm."

Sergeant Jonathan Woods, of Ebbw Vale police station, said: "This is an unusual way of causing damage to a property and it is very dangerous."

Anyone with information should contact Ebbw Vale police station on 01495 350999.