West Mercia police told to 'reclaim streets'

West Mercia police need to take reports of anti-social behaviour more seriously to "stop the rot" and reclaim the region's yob-ruled streets, a watchdog has said.

Police have retreated from the streets in the last 30 years and have given up trying to control threatening, rowdy and abusive teenage tearaways.

The damning report by HM Chief Inspector of Constabulary Sir Denis O'Connor calls for action to restore "civility" in communities and troubled estates.

He warns neglecting the issue by reducing the time spent combating the problem in the face of spending cuts will allow the menace to escalate with more than 26 incidents reported every minute in Britain.

The report says there we- re more than 3.5 million calls about anti-social behaviour last year. But only one in four cases is reported to police. In the region's force area, more than 400 people who reported anti-social behaviour to the police last September were asked about their experience.

Some 58 per cent of those surveyed who reported yob violence and intimidation to West Mercia Police said they were satisfied with the way their call was handled. But only 43 per cent of those felt it had made a difference.

Sir Denis said:"We all want civility restored to society and the public relies on the police for that to happen."