REVELLERS have been blamed for an attack on an Eldene house and car that left residents ‘petrified’.

Officers were called to Stubsmead, off Eldene Drive, at 11.45pm on Saturday evening after reports of a gang of youths shouting abuse at a house in the road and throwing stones at the property’s windows.

In a letter sent to councillors and shared on Facebook, police said that the youths had been thrown out of a party at the house after they fell out with family members of the party organiser.

According to police, the youths had fled by the time officers reached the scene.

Residents said that the gang of youths, almost of all of whom were believed to be young lads, returned to Stubsmead in the early hours of Sunday morning.

At around 1am several homeowners were woken up by a loud banging noise.

When they looked out of the windows they could see youths with ‘bricks’ attacking a blue Ford Mondeo. The car, which had a 2003 registration plate, had its rear window smashed and its tyres slashed.

A grandmother-of-two, 60, who has lived on the street for 17 years, said: “There were a lot of kids – they seemed to swarm along the road. I’m petrified here.”

A mum-of-two, who has lived on the street for three years, said of the attack on the blue Mondeo: “I have never seen anything like around here. I think they must have been targeting that car for a reason.

Police confirmed the Stubsmead woman’s suspicions, telling councillors: “The damage was not random and very much targeted against an individual.”

Eldene residents told the Adver that they had seen a growing problem with drug dealing and anti-social behaviour from groups of youths.

“They hang around the street all through the day and night and everyone is too scared to say anything or to give the police their names,” said one Stubsmead resident, 30. The woman said that that the youths wolf whistle at women and ‘make comments’ as you pass.

“It’s quite intimidating for a woman. Our neighbourhood is being terrorised by these youths.”

The woman, who has lived in Eldene ‘for years’, believes that some of the young men are selling drugs in Eldene.

“We heard that a couple of the boys were selling crack cocaine. I mean – they’re only 16.”

PC Stefan Watts, community co-ordinator for Wiltshire Police, said: “There have been problems in the area and Wiltshire Police have been working very hard to tackle a small minority of youths who have been causing problems for residents.

“Together with the Swindon Borough Council and the Youth Offending intervention work is ongoing.

“It will take time to see the impact of this work and in the mean time I would request that the public continue to report incidents and any information they have.”