FED up traders are calling for the police to put a stop to gangs of teenagers causing thousands of pounds of damage to their shops.

Store owners in Sharoe Green Lane shopping complex say the area has become a haven for gangs.

And recently the groups have taken to scrawling graffiti on the walls and playing football on the footpaths.

One owner had a window worth £2,000 smashed.

Neil Wilkes, of Sharoe Green Dry Cleaners, said: "It's like a youth club round here. You can tell they've been round by the state of the windows in the mornings.

"The police come and move them, and they just come back. I think it's because it's sheltered. They need somewhere to go when it's raining."

Booth's, who have a supermarket on the site and are landlords for the complex, admit there have been problems, but say they are working with the police to stop it.

Charles Du Pre, spokesman for the firm, said: "We are working closely with the police and our own security team at Sharoe Green to eradicate these incidents and continue to ensure that these incidents have not and will not pose a danger to anybody visiting the complex."

Inspector Karen Simister, area inspector for Fulwood, said the shops have now been made a priority for the police.

She said: "We are aware of this problem. We are looking to try to get some of our surveillance cameras in there to identify the youths.

"We do an operation called Operation Dune, on juvenile nuisance. That area is number one on the list. They are there every Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings.

"The problems seem to be between seven and ten o'clock and that is the time that Operation Dune does cover."