SHOWDOWN talks with a police chief were due to take place today after residents of a Southampton estate last night vented their anger over street gangs.

An emergency meeting was called by the Merry Oak Residents’ Association to take a stand against youths behind a recent spate of antisocial behaviour.

Residents told how they felt they were not being taken seriously by police and rejected claims that antisocial behaviour had gone down by nearly a third.

They said they had been subjected to intimidation, threats and abuse, stone throwing at their homes and vandalism of their cars.

One mum told the meeting: “I look out my window to see if it’s clear to put out my rubbish. These people are stopping us from even walking to the shops. What kind of life is that?”

Many complained they had reported incidents and logged details but police appeared to be taking little action and were failing to give any feedback.

A local survey carried out by police, council and housing officers, seen by the Daily Echo, found seven out of ten residents felt there was a problem with teenagers hanging around on the street, and half felt vandalism and criminal damage was a problem.

Councillors and council antisocial behaviour officers who attended the meeting at Merry Oak Community Centre stressed that problems must be reported to flag up the area as a hotspot.

Residents agreed to pool their incident logs and hand a dossier to police.

Mum of four Cherie Collins, 38, who chaired the meeting, said she would be today holding talks with newly installed sector Inspector Mark Hull, who was unable to attend the evening.

“He’s promised he will take us seriously,” she said.

She added that residents wanted to see the youths brought to court and punished with visible community payback, not slapped with antisocial behaviour orders.

Insp Hull was unavailable to comment on the meeting but has promised personalised visits to every victim of crime and said there would be a summer antisocial behaviour and anti-knife campaign. He believed it would have a positive impact.

Acting Insp Tim Boennic, in charge of the Peartree and Merry Oak “safer neighbourhoods team”, previously told the Daily Echo that police were only aware of a “limited amount of anti-social behaviour in Merry Oak”.

He claimed it had reduced by 30 per cent in the past year after police worked to tackle it.