TRACY Broad has not slept soundly in her bed for months, but for her the nightmare is all too real.

The single mum-of-three never knows if she will wake up to yet more damage and destruction on her doorstep.

Over the past year the trouble has escalated to such an extent that this week three of Tracy Broad's downstairs windows were left boarded up after being smashed by missiles thrown by a gang of up to 25 yobs who terrorise the street where she lives.

A block of concrete, the size of a football, and even a garden flowerpot have been hurled through Tracy's windows causing damage and injuring her children.

Her nine-year-old son Lewis was cut by flying glass in a recent attack on the property.

All of her three children are now too frightened to sleep in their rooms at the front of the house and are forced to sleep in the same room.

Tracy, 44, said it is time something was done about the group who roam Purvis Gardens in Sholing where she has lived for 18 months.

"It is just unbearable. My children are terrified and it is virtually like living in a war zone. Every Friday and Saturday night something happens down here. But it has really escalated over the past few months," she said.

"I just can't take it any more and I can't wait to move out, nothing seems to be done to stop it.

"I think even the police are too frightened to come here when that gang are down here. They smash doors in, throw things through my windows, one time I even had to move out because it wasn't safe for me to stay inside. I just know every weekend night something will happen."

It is thought the gang of up to 25 youths is the same one that targeted motorists along Portsmouth Road in Woolston before going on the rampage in the Bitterne area.

Stones and bottles were rained down on vehicles as they drove along the road on the Friday night of June 18. As reported in the Daily Echo one man was left with a two-inch gash to his head after being attacked when he pulled over to check his car was all right.

The Daily Echo has also been contacted by a group who was travelling back in a minibus that night when a bottle came through the window of the bus.

One of the party, who asked not to be named, described how a woman in their group was beaten up by the thugs who then snatched a mobile phone out of the hand of another woman as she tried to raise the alarm when the bus pulled over.

He said: "It was awful we just had no idea it was going to happen. It all looked like a set up as there were only two of them to start with and it turned into a group of more than 20."

Police say they are investigating the incidents and confirmed that three suspects had been arrested and later released on police bail in connection with the events in Portsmouth Road and Purvis Gardens.

Insp Graham Norman, of Bitterne police, said: "Police have been aware of ongoing problems for some time. It is part of a large-scale issue of where youths go in the evenings. We are paying attention to it and there have been several arrests over different periods of time."

He added that officers were working with Hyde Housing Association to get an agreement with the group's residents that would give police the power to move on groups of people who gather near homes in the area.

Government launches scheme

Tracy's story comes as the government today launches an awards scheme designed to stamp out antisocial behaviour.

Residents across the country are being urged to take a stand against vandals, thugs and yobs that plague their communities.

The Taking A Stand Awards recognises people who have shown commitment and bravery in tackling yobish behaviour and are also designed to encourage authorities to use new laws to help crack down on the antisocial behaviour.

The scheme recognises projects like the Freemantle Youth Project in Southampton where residents who suffered antisocial behaviour set up a youth forum coupled with installing CCTV and street lighting.