A TEENAGE girl was beaten up in her home by youths who her family say have plagued their street for months.

Joanne Bartlett, 13, needed hospital treatment for bruising and swelling to her head after the assault in the bathroom of her home in Hurworth Place, near Darlington, on Friday night.

A girl, thought to be part of a gang that is regularly seen in the village's Grange Avenue, burst into the house while Joanne was at home by herself, and kicked her to the ground. She was forced to barricade herself in the toilet.

Now her mother, Julie, is appealing for action to be taken, after enduring months of anti-social behaviour.

"This girl had the gall to come into our home and dragged my daughter across the bathroom floor, kicked her head and banged it off the floor, and tried to push her down the stairs. You can still see the heel marks on our floor," she said. "Joanne is lucky she only has swelling, it could have been a lot, lot worse.

"We have had problems with youths for quite a while now, and have reported it several times, but this has overstepped the mark by 100 per cent.

"They hang around outside our home drinking and smoking and, although Joanne doesn't know them, they seem to target her. She's a nice girl, I don't know why this is happening.

"Now, she doesn't feel safe in her own home and doesn't want to go out. We have even cancelled the milk so we can bolt the gate at night, but I don't know what more we can do. If these kids can come into someone's house, that makes me worry about what could happen next."

Darlington Borough Councillor Roderick Burtt, who represents the Hurworth ward, said he was aware of anti-social behaviour problems in the area, but never to such a serious extent.

"I am absolutely shocked that people's private property should be violated like this, but especially when children are involved," he said. "I have never heard of anything this serious and it is, of course, a worrying incident."

Durham Police confirmed they were investigating the assault, and appealed for anyone with information to contact them on 0845 606 0365