RESIDENTS of a quiet Gwent village say their lives are being made hell by car gangs who congregate in their community.

Youths from across Gwent are gathering in the quiet village of Clydach, near Abergavenny, locals say, and are taking drugs, racing cars and making a nuisance of themselves.

Residents say the gangs are being pushed out of larger towns such as Abergavenny and nearby Brynmawr because of tougher policing.

But it means they are gathering in the peaceful village, which doesn't have such high- profile policing.

Last week Gwent Police held a meeting with residents, and warned locals to be careful on the village playing- fields as a number of discarded needles and syringes have been found there.

One local, who did not want to be named, told the Argus: "I have picked up needles and other drug equipment from the fields.

"There's a lot of trouble with anti-social behaviour, vandalism and drugs. It's got steadily worse over the last six to eight months, and people here are scared. I think a lot of people are too shocked to speak out. They just can't believe it's happening in such a quiet place.

"But they are meeting up here for exactly that reason: it's quiet. They are being pushed out of the towns and are coming here. There's no CCTV and too few police."

Community police officer PC Tracey Bowen-Quirk said patrols in the area were being stepped up to deal with the problem.

"Needles and syringes have been found on the football fields, one of the main areas used by the whole community," she said.

"It's so bad they have to check the fields every time they use it.

"We are adopting a zero tolerance policy with drugs and anti-social behaviour, but we are also trying to open a youth centre in the village hall to deter kids from this sort of behaviour.

"We also have to educate villagers about drugs. It's a peaceful area and a lot of people haven't experienced this sort of thing before.

"They are too scared to report things to us, and we can't tackle the problem if we don't know about it."