JUST a day after police said dispersal orders placed in two Ipswich streets have proved to be a success, vandals went on a night of destruction – stealing cars and setting fire to them.

JUST a day after police said dispersal orders placed in two Ipswich streets have proved to be a success, vandals went on a night of destruction – stealing cars and setting fire to them.

Residents lined the roads in disbelief as they found Reynolds Road closed off because rebels had set fire to two cars dangerously close to shops.

One of the cars was so close to a Chinese take away and a cake shop it badly damaged the shop fronts.

When fire crews and police attended the scene at around 4.20am yesterday they found a white Ford Fiesta and a Vauxhall Astra were found to on fire at either end of the parade of shops in the street.

The street was closed off after the incident to allow police officers to check for any evidence left at the scene and was likely to be closed for most of the morning.

Just an hour and a half after the first call out fire crews were called out again to Queens Way where two more cars had been set on fire.

This time a blue Ford Fiesta and a white Ford Orion were the targets for the crimes.

Inspector Alex Morrison, from Ipswich police, said: "None of the cars have been reported as stolen but it is suspected that they may have been.

"We cannot say that the two were definitely linked but it is a coincidence that both of them happened within hours of each other and in the dispersal areas of the town."

Just yesterday Dave Dring, inspector for the east of Ipswich, said: "The comments we've received from residents and businesses are the orders are working and there appears to be a marked improvement in incidents of anti-social behaviour."

But today Alfred Stuteley, who lives on the corner of Reynolds Road and Landseer Road, said: "I thought the orders were working but now I am not so sure.

"It is incidents like this that make you afraid to live in the area. I live with my elderly farther and I am very worried for his safety."

Shop owners waited in warm clothes sipping cups of tea knowing a morning's trade had been wasted because of the incident.

Kam Mok, owner of South China, which was badly affected in the fire, said: "I am getting so fed up with things like this. I don't want to have to be woken up early every morning to bad news about the shop.

"The dispersal order seems to work early in the evening but when police go away the kids just come back out trying to cause more and more trouble."

Richard Lilley, owner of Lilleys Greengrocers, said: "We got a phone call from the police at 4.30am and now it looks like we will loose out on a mornings trade today.

"We would normally open at 7am but all we can do today is just sit here and wait until the road opens again. There is nothing we can do about it."

Trouble flared in Queen's Way on July 23 when police were called to a disagreement at the arcade.

Two people were arrested at the scene and a further three were arrested the following weekend.

Since then police have been called to the parade of shops on both Reynolds Road and Queens Way several times.

Dispersal orders were placed on both streets on September 6 for a period of six months.

n. Do you think the dispersal orders are working? Write to us at Your Letters, Evening Star, 30 Lower Brook Street, Ipswich, IP4 1AN or email eveningstarletters@eveningstar.co.uk.