FEARFUL residents of a Suffolk town have told police they are too scared to report crime, it emerged today.Mum Barbara Scott, who lives in Hadleigh, said at the meeting of residents and the police that anti-social behaviour was blighting lives and making people afraid to go out in the evenings.

FEARFUL residents of a Suffolk town have told police they are too scared to report crime, it emerged today.

Mum Barbara Scott, who lives in Hadleigh, said at the meeting of residents and the police that anti-social behaviour was blighting lives and making people afraid to go out in the evenings.

The meeting in the Ansell Community Centre came just days after The Evening Star reported that a crack-down on anti-social behaviour in Hadleigh had resulted in three ASBOs handed out to yobs this year.

At the meeting on Wednesday Ms Scott said: “I am intimidated about walking around the park. I'm scared to go down the street.

“There is a lot of violence and damage about but we feel we can't do anything about it.

“The older boys turn round and say 'if you report us we will trash your house'.

“They will brick our house, they will hurt our children.

“These boys need to be taught a lesson.”

Another resident, an elderly woman who did not give her name, was cheered by fellow residents after she said: “They smash glass everywhere and we feel we want to go out after them but we daren't because they may have a knife.

“They bang on the doors and it is very, very frightening.”

Sergeant Alice Robertson, of Suffolk police, agreed with residents that anti-social behaviour was a problem in the town and said she hoped the community could work together to tackle the issue.

She said at the meeting: “I can't get over the damage that occurs in Hadleigh High Street itself.

“We need help from the community to bring in the intelligence to tell us who is intimidating you.

“There isn't any way that we can police Hadleigh without Hadleigh coming to us to assist.”

She said people who were fearful of coming forward to report crime could visit the Central Babergh safer neighbourhood team website at www.onesuffolk.co.uk/SaferSuffolk/CentralBabergh.

Are you worried about anti-social behaviour in Hadleigh? Write to Your Letters, Evening Star, 30 Lower Brook Street, Ipswich IP4 1AN or e-mail eveningstarletters@eveningstar.co.uk.