THE community on a Newport estate is under a curfew imposed by yobs, a furious resident told police.

The "disillusioned" resident told Bettws Police at a special consultation meeting that the youth problem in the centre of the estate was "the worst it has ever been".

The woman, who did not want to be named, said she had lived and worked on the Bettws estate for 30 years.

She said: "They should be under curfew, but instead it's the community in Bettws under curfew as they are scared of going out. It is disgusting.

"Why should people my age have to take that. We have lived here all our lives and put a lot into the community, and all we get is abuse. Why should we have to put up with it. The thing is, its getting worse.

"We really need desperately something to be done. Lots of us bought our houses here and have put a lot of money into them, and for what. I would give mine away if I had somewhere to go."

The woman said that youths regularly congregate in the shopping precinct, drinking and hurling abuse at people.

At the public consultation meeting last week, which was the first of its kind organised by Gwent Police, the residents were also told that Bettws experienced more than twice the national average of violent crimes per 1,000 of population.

From April 1 to December 31, 2002, there were 35 violent crimes per 1,000 of population. The national average is 14.

Police also revealed that they dealt with 636 calls to public disorder incidents in Bettws for the same period, one-and-a-half times the national average.

The majority of the 30 people at the meeting said they did support the police and understood the constraints placed upon them.

Inspector Paul Griffiths organised the meeting to discuss residents' views and help him prioritise officers to deal with problems affecting the community.

He said: "In the short term we are more aware than ever of the concerns about anti-social behaviour and where it's occurring and we will raise our profile with high visibility patrols targeting major areas of concern.

"We are running an initiative to identify youths who are involved in anti-social behaviour.

"Where positive action takes place, it will be reflected with letters to parents and guardians to identify their children's involvement in this sort of behaviour.

"In the medium to long term we are working with the council and other partners to invest in projects to provide greater facilities and opportunities for youths, to channel their energies away from the gang culture."

* The Argus exclusively revealed earlier this month how the government is introducing a white paper to crack down on yobs, which will include proposals like special anti-social behaviour courts and on the spot fines.