ANDOVER'S MP Sir George Young has been dubbed a hero by the mum of a teenager terrorised by anti-social thugs.

The mum who doesn't want to be named says her son 'Tim' was too frightened to go out of the house on his own for fear of the thugs.

"They used to chase him down the street, shout obscenities at him and have threatened to kill him.

"It was just hell.

"He was a prisoner in his own home," she said.

"The more he used to run away the more badly behaved they became."

They were cowards she said. They had to be in a gang before they acted.

But when her husband intervened on one occasion he was arrested and faced a charge of actual bodily harm.

He was acquitted at Winchester Crown Court last month. And although she called the police she says it was the intervention of MP Sir George Young that made the difference.

"He is our hero.

"He has done a wonderful job, staying in contact sometimes writing two letters a week to let us know what is happening.

"After hearing of our situation he went to the police and told them that it needed to stop.

"They took note of him and there was an arrest."

Sir George said this week he was dealing with a number of similar problems in parts of Andover. "In this case the police recognised they had been under pressure but they recovered well and made arrests and I hope the position of the family has now improved," he said.

Police say they are sympathetic to those suffering such problems and recognise that action has to be taken.

"We are working with other agencies to find ways of dealing with these problems," said head of Andover crime desk Sgt Kevin McCarthy.

"People shouldn't have to put up with this sort of thing."