PENSIONERS as old as 100 are being 'given hell' by thugs in Ellesmere Port.

Elderly people are being threatened and intimidated by groups of men and having their houses bombarded by mud and eggs by youths.

The matter was raised at Ellesmere Port & Neston Police Forum where officers said they are aware of the problem and are actively investigating.

One woman told the meeting some of the problems centred on the Faraday Road area.

She explained: 'We have people aged 90 and even 100 years being affected by this.

'We have got one particular group of people giving the OAPs hell down there. They are throwing clods of mud at the pensioners' windows.

'One day I answered the door and got verbal abuse from 16-year-olds. Also, some men came to a pensioner's house asking if they had any jobs they wanted doing, and they said there weren't any.

'The language the pensioner got from these men was terrible, and then they were throwing things at the door. As a result, she was a wreck.'

The woman asked officers: 'What are we supposed to do? I don't know where to go. These people are making us all nervous wrecks.'

A Homewatch representative said: 'Youths in Rivacre are covering pensioners' homes with eggs and yet we've had no response from the police.

'Something needs to be done. The pensioners are having their quality of life affected.'

And an elderly man said that, on the morning of the forum meeting, he had mud sprayed across his windows.

Inspector Adele Jones, of Ellesmere Port & Neston police, said: 'This is a difficult issue because it's not an isolated problem. We are looking at the particular incidents you have all referred to.'

She said officers were working with partner agencies like the Probation Service and social services to tackle the problem for the long term.

Superintendent Ian Hopkins, divisional commander, said: 'All these incidents are awful and make people's lives a misery. But police are not the sole agency for tackling them. The borough council is jointly responsible for reducing crime and disorder.'