A TERROR-STRICKEN 77-year-old Fylde resident has been forced to leave her home after suffering two years of harassment at the hands of a group of heartless teenagers.

The deaf, partially-sighted and infirm woman who asked not to be identified, lives in a private flat in Sherbourne Court, off Arundel Drive, Carleton, and has been made increasingly frightened by frequent incidents.

They have included:

Stones, mud and eggs being thrown at windows and doors.

Knocking at the door and soaking the woman with water.

Removing hub caps from cars.

Taking down washing lines.

Ruining garden beds.

Knocking on the bedroom window in the early hours of the morning.

The woman's son said: "Mum seems to get the worst of it being on the ground floor. We have been in touch with the police a number of times and they say they will keep an eye out, but nothing seems to happen. Then we get told to call Fleetwood, or Lancaster."

Her daughter-in-law added: "She's had to come and live with us indefinitely. She's got a bad chest infection and she just can't cope with it all."

Sgt Mary Cowley, of Poulton police station, said: "We've been contacted by the lady concerned three times this year, but on each occasion they have been historical -- that's to say they have been reported when the children are no longer in the area.

"We have also had one other complaint from Sherbourne Court.

"Our communications centre is Lancaster, so all calls are routed through there before officers are deployed locally, which is why the complainant has been referred elsewhere.

"As a result of the first call in February the area has been put on our rolling programme of 'hotspot high visibility policing', which ensures that police mount regular patrols and we would encourage people experiencing these problems to keep us fully informed about these incidents.

"One of our key objectives is to reduce juvenile nuisance and we have schemes like the Juvenile Referral Scheme in place to deal with it."