Drink fuels kids' reign of terror.

Byline: By David Bell 

TEENAGE gangs desperate for booze are behind a spiralling crime wave plaguing suburbs, say West Midlands Police.

Schoolchildren as young as 12 are bullying off-licence customers in Longbridge and West Heath, Birmingham, into buying them alcohol.

And if they or the shop staff refuse to let them have cheap wine, lager or vodka, they are attacked or face a brick through the window.

In some cases gangs have massed outside before storming the shops and fleeing with hundreds of pounds-worth of drink, Insp Richard Mayhew told city licensing chiefs.

The situation has now become so serious police have told the worst hit off-licences to stop serving after 4pm.

The city's worst-hit area is in Longbridge where police dealt with more than 3,000 incidents of anti-social behaviour from the mobs last year.

Nearby West Heath was top of the Birmingham league for drink-fuelled violence and petty crime.

The surge in teen crime emerged as police opposed an application to open an off-licence in Nuthurst Road, West Heath.

"The area already has three off-licences close to each other which has dramatically increased incidents of alcohol fuelled anti-social behaviour," he told councillors.

Resident Elaine Honey said neighbours had had bricks thrown at their windows, cars damaged and fences pulled down by the drunken child gangs.

"I just want to live a quiet peaceful life and not have to worry about a lot of youths congregating outside my house."

John Leonard said off-licence staff and customers were terrified of the gangs who stormed in to stealing beer and wine.

The committee agreed with Insp Mayhew that opening another off-licence would only make the situation worse.

OUR SAY: PAGE 58

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CAPTION(S):

CONCERNED... Insp Richard Mayhew.