TEMPERS flared last night when angry residents plagued by reckless yobs tearing around their estates on motorbikes confronted police and council chiefs about the problem.

About 50 residents from Lordshill, Lordswood, Aldermoor and Coxford packed into a public meeting to quiz police, Southampton City Council, MP Alan Whitehead and Forestry Commission officials on antisocial and dangerous behaviour putting lives at risk.

The crowd erupted into applause at Lordshill Church as dozens stood up voicing their opinions demanding a crackdown on the thugs making their neighbourhood a misery.

Some have even resorted to hiding in bushes in the middle of the night with infrared cameras to capture the culprits on video and pass it to police.

One resident, said: “If we don’t do something the police can’t act. We need to deal with this together before somebody is killed.”

They say children and teens speed around woodland, playing fields and footpaths on motorbikes and mopeds with no care for the community.

Some bikes are stolen or uninsured without number plates and often the youths are masked and do not wear helmets.

Many said that despite constant calls to police, they fear they are not being listened to.

But Chief Inspector of Shirley, Stuart Murray, who came to the meeting in his own time, assured the community that operations and investigations do take place when they get information from the residents and it is a key priority for his team.

In the last year the Coxford team seized 55 bikes, some as far away as New Milton, after getting more than 300 calls about the problem.

He said that even if officers do not attend incidents immediately, they get logged and extra patrols are brought in to police those hotspots.

But he added that catching culprits is not easy because they “cannot chase after kids on bikes” because of safety issues. He urged members of the public to inform police of any incidents.

He said: “People raise this as the biggest problem in the Millbrook and Coxford area and they put this above alcohol-related antisocial behaviour. Every call that is made I go through on a daily basis. But we rely on people giving us information. If you don’t tell us, we can’t act on it.

“We are only going to sort this if you talk to us and we talk to you. Our big failing is we don’t always tell you what we are doing.”

MP Alan Whitehead, said: “This is an issue that affects a lot of people in this area and I hear a lot of stories. They do speed through underpasses and have knocked people over and it has been lucky on these occasions that nobody has been killed. I do know that many people phone up 101 and don’t think anyone listens but it is a question of building a bigger picture up.”

Labour ward councillor Don Thomas, who arranged the meeting with Cllr Keith Morrell, said: “It was a very heated discussion and debate but at the end of it, most people accept there can be a positive outcome there and things that we can do.”

Another meeting will take place in the new year so the authorities can give feedback.