GANGS of drunk youngsters are making life a misery for people in a quiet north Durham village.

Groups of up to 20 young people are drinking in and around Edmondsley, near Chester-le-Street, and causing damage.

The windows of the Village Welfare Hall, which has recently undergone a £40,000 refurbishment, are regularly broken and there have been several burglaries.

Edmondsley Parish Council met with north Durham MP Kevan Jones to discuss the problem.

Council clerk Bill Davidson said: "Edmondsley is a quiet, little village and we think the crime problems from other areas have been displaced here.

"The parish council tried to start a walk in the village, with views across the valley, and installed a fancy seat made from wrought iron.

"But the kids have ruined it by vandalising it and covering it with oil.

"They leave their cans of lager lying around with drug-taking and glue-sniffing paraphernalia.

"The kids are marauding around here and it is very alarming for people who live in the village."

Mr Jones said the anti-social behaviour was being fuelled by alcohol.

He said: "We need to clamp down on this because it is very unpleasant for the people of Edmondsley.

"We need to find out where they are getting their alcohol from and put a stop to it."

Sergeant Rob Smith, of Chester-le-Street police, said officers have increased patrols in the area to tackle the problem.

He said a policing plan was being made.

Sgt Smith said: "We are finding out what the problems are for residents and who is responsible, so we can come up with the best way to tackle them.

"Arrests have been made for public order offences and crimes in Edmondsley recently so we have had some success.

"Police Community Support Officers are very proactive in alcohol seizures and we always follow these up with a letter to a parent or guardian.

"It is them up them how they deal with it but it seems to be effective because we have very few repeat offenders.

"It is important that the people of Edmondsley know that we are not ignoring them and we are proactively trying to tackle the problems they are having."