Anti-Social Behaviour and Children

Originally written by Jeff Durham, updated by the editorial team on 31st March 2026

When children become involved in anti-social behaviour, it is often as a result of either bad parenting and/or they have simply 'got in' with the wrong crowd. Peer pressure can be extremely powerful when you're young and, even though children may well have been brought up to hold decent values and to understand the concept of respect, they can still get into trouble and so blame cannot always be laid on the parents.

If you're experiencing ongoing issues with anti-social behaviour from children in your neighbourhood, you can get practical guidance using our free Anti-Social Behaviour Action Plan.

Nevertheless, parents themselves have a duty to try to ensure that their child is not engaging in activities deemed to be anti-social in nature or committing Criminal Offences.

Common Problems

Anti-social behaviour by children can manifest itself in a variety of ways but some of the more common problems include:

Noise Nuisance
Verbal abuse, harassment and threatening behaviour
Assault
Criminal damage to shops, cars and property
Throwing missiles
Joyriding
Vandalism and graffiti
Underage drinking or drug abuse

Measures to Tackle Anti-social Behaviour in Children

The police, local authorities and registered landlords can apply for various legal measures to tackle anti-social behaviour. Here is a breakdown of what each course of action means.

Anti-Social Behaviour Action Plan

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Group Dispersal Orders

Police and local community support officers can break up a gathering of youths who might be harassing other members of the local community. They can be banned from revisiting a particular area for up to 24 hours and, if they fail to move on or return within that timescale, they can be issued with a fixed penalty notice.

In conjunction with the local authority, the police can also make certain areas out of bounds for specific groups of people by creating designated 'no-go zones'. Here, the police have the power to take home any unsupervised children seen in the zone after 9pm.

Acceptable Behaviour Contract (ABC)

This is a voluntary agreement which is drawn up between somebody who has been involved in anti-social behaviour and the local authority or police. In signing the contract, the offender has made a commitment not to continue with any further instances of such behaviour and, if they break this contract, they can then be served with further enforcement action.

Your situation may be slightly different. ask a question below ↓ and our editorial team will reply with our advice.

Anti-Social Behaviour Order (ASBO)

Anti-social behaviour is now primarily addressed through Community Protection Notices, Civil Injunctions, and Criminal Behaviour Orders rather than ASBOs. These measures prevent the offender from engaging in specific anti-social activities and/or going to certain area or associating with certain named people. Such orders can be issued to a child as young as 10 and they can last for a minimum of 2 years. You can also be arrested if you break these orders.

Holding Parents To Account

Although some instances of a child's anti-social behaviour will be as a result of peer pressure, many problems arise due to bad parenting or neglect of children, yet there are measures which can be put in place to make parents more responsible and accountable for the behaviour of their children. These include:

Parenting contracts – which are voluntary agreements drawn up between the likes of schools or a local authority's youth offending team with parents of the child in question. They are for the likes of parents whose child has been playing truant or has been expelled from school and are aimed at improving the child's behaviour.

Parenting orders – these are issued by the court and can be used when a child has either been already convicted of a crime or when they have engaged in anti-social behaviour. They involve parents attending a course aimed at offering them guidance and advice for responsible parenting and making sure that their child goes to school, keeps away from places they are not permitted to go unsupervised, and/or for making sure that their child is at home by a particular time. They can be issued for up to a period of 12 months.

Penalty notices – schools, the police and local authorities can issue fines to the parents of a child who is playing truant. And if the parents fail to pay the fine, they can be prosecuted.

For the most part, tackling problems associated with children and anti-social behaviour is a joint effort where parents, schools, local authorities and the police all need to work together with children to educate them about moral values and respect, both for themselves and for others.

When that is achieved, anti-social behaviour by children inevitably tails off and, if it doesn't, then some of the measures above and further measures are in place to ensure that the behaviour of a child is not allowed to blight the whole community.

The Next Step

Now that you have read through the advice above, you might want to put it into practice. Our Anti-Social Behaviour Action Plan lets you get a clear action plan to deal with anti-social neighbours. Takes 2 minutes. Try it now →

101 questions

Ask Problem Neighbours a Question

ProblemNeighbours Editor 17/05/2026 at 1:30 pm

@Ginger13 That sounds exhausting, especially with PTSD on top. Start logging every incident with dates, times and what happened, then report it to your council's ASB team directly rather than just the housing association, as councils have a duty to investigate under the ASB Crime and Policing Act. Also ring 101 for the swearing and intimidation, as repeated reports build a paper trail. If the HA keeps fobbing you off, use their formal complaints procedure and then escalate to the Housing Ombudsman.

Ginger13 19/06/2025 at 8:59 pm

Kids from opposite block running around my block shouting and swearing,also kids from 2 blocks away riding bike rude attitude towards people no adults to be seen noise so bad have to keep windows and curtains closed due to my PTSD housing association are no help.what do you do to get a little peace?

EmJ 28/06/2024 at 7:20 pm

I am disabled. I live next to a park which has just had a change in lay out. This resulted in more balls banging against my fence. Shocks to my nervous system exasperate my condition. There were a few children who were just ridiculous in their behaviour. I said there was a sign not to play football. They didn't care. I think in parks no ball playing should be enforcable by law. These kids just laughed at me and further it escalated to having rocks thrown at my home. Because they have been spoken to by the police and yet have continued to use the park underneath the newly put up sign they are now going to be charged with harassment. But this is a seaside town and many visitors come and go.. Meaning the foot fall is high and there will be an increase in children playing ( no parents correcting them cos it seems parents feel the signs mean nothing ) .. Long and short is because of the change around of the park I am now being disturbed in my home and my health is getting/has got worse. There is nothing that can be done about children playing ball even though now I am on edge with the balls being played, my dogs now react to anything ( it started with a ball coming over and hitting me and my 1 year old granddaughter. ) In my opinion parks near housing estates shold be designed so balls can not go into peoples properties/bang on fences. I am now having to consider moving.

Tuka 27/07/2023 at 4:15 am

Help me please l afride going outside my home with small 22monts son.I scared neighbours children, they doing to mach bad behaviour but l dont have good English

Conco 18/07/2023 at 7:13 am

I was agressed by a group of teens in the play are for little children,jus because I asked them not to play football there.
I was intimidated and should to leave the park,even thou my little ones wanted to play there( 2 years old and other 2 months in the buggy).
When my husband tried to talk with there parents,he was also agressed by them and their teens and called him “suspect” only beacuse he looks not like an Englishman.
We are responsible european citiziens and good parents.
Now,I am scared to go outside with my little ones,only because no measures are taken by local authorities .As I know that is not first time when they behave like that with people.
How have I act in this case?!
I feel unsafe!

Shez 15/05/2023 at 7:24 pm

I live at the end of a street which is a dead end. My house is in a little block which was added to the street later and our houses have a little garden patch then a shared path and a fence on the other side of the path. However, we also own the land on other side of the fence. (There are no houses opposite). We have young adults who don't even live on this street parking up out there and using their vehicles for anti social behaviour. We also have the rest of the streets kids playing football out there and the balls constantly come in our gardens. I get that they can't be expected to know it is our land since it is other side of our fence and appears to be a continuation of the rest of the road (albeit gravelled with no kerb or pavement). However, they also treat our shared pathway like their own chase each other path. Just recently we got new neighbours next door which have teens. When they have friends visiting they will just come onto our patch (the actual garden patch, not just our part of the path) kicking up and riding scooter/bike over our stones (good job we don't have plants) and the older ones coming into our garden to smoke/vape. We also have a shared driveway at the back so they all also chase, cycle, scooter, play ball games (with and without bats) out there, running/wheel transporting/swinging bats around my car and if car not there they can be too close to my kitchen window for my comfort with bats. I have complained to the police many times, they said get council to put up no ball games signs etc, council say its not their responsibility as its private property, so told the police and they said again it is council. Yet if I privately put a sign up its not legally enforceable. I didn't want to move again, I loved this house when I bought it but what else can I do other than move?

Ewa 15/05/2023 at 12:08 pm

I live at the end of the street, children from all over the street gather in my corner! the neighbor across the street takes other people's children, she looks after them, children fly under my window around my car, they also scream, you can't watch TV, I have to close the windows, close the blinds because the dog goes crazy. what should I do ? Who can help? I'm having surgery to remove a brain tumor. He needs peace and quiet, not stress.

Ewa 15/05/2023 at 12:07 pm

Hi, I live at the end of the street, children from all over the street gather in my corner! the neighbor across the street takes other people's children, she looks after them, children fly under my window around my car, they also scream, you can't watch TV, I have to close the windows, close the blinds because the dog goes crazy. what should I do ? Who can help? I'm having surgery to remove a brain tumor. He needs peace and quiet, not stress.

Sop 09/05/2023 at 8:13 pm

I have recently had neighbours move in around a month ago recently all I have heard from the children is swearing all day long in the back yard what would you recommend that I should do to try resolve the issue

Radiolady63 07/05/2023 at 6:34 pm

Hi, has anyone ever contacted a nuisance neighbours boss and is it legal? My nuisance neighbour works for the NHS and I think it would be beneficial to ask them to intervene and arrange a meeting so she has to sit in front of her boss and explain to us why she makes our lives a misery. I am aware of libel/slander. Looked on the internet, but cannot find an answer.
Thanks in advance
Mx

Ruthy 18/04/2023 at 1:14 am

Has anyone came across, Neighbours upstairs have a child who is nearly 3, since this child was born, he has screamed every night, some nights for 4 1/2hrs or all through the night (I swear i have the bags under my eyes to prove it) parents either sleep through this or chose to ignore him then sleep all day whilst he runs up & down (they should have him wrapped up & at the park interacting with others) housing are as much use as a Chocolate Firegaurd. No it's not the childs fault, parents need some sort of parenting classes. I do not keep well & i have raised 2 boys & know they can be wild HOWEVER. I also know right from wrong & have respect for others. They are gamers, can hear the games music & when the male has either won,scored a goal etc by the big WOW, infact when they are not comatosed they are on American time. How a mother can just lie there when her child screams beggars belief (to me it's a mothers instinct to jump as soon as you hear your child in destress) . 1 night whilst brushing my teeth, again child screaming & they where actually asking each other to go and get him (felt like shouting 1 of you fkn get him) I feel housing just fob you off & come away with, contact Social Work as it's only hearsay from me, well it's also only hearsay at my end as i am not in their house when this is going on. I am at the end of my Tether. 23yrs in this house & never had any bother, IMO housing don't seem to care about their decent neighbours. Sorry but i had to get this off my chest

Velma 09/04/2023 at 9:55 pm

Jen. Answer to your comment about a village to raise a child. We're not all in villages, and it's NOT all upto the council etc. Kids where I am are being very noisy at night from 7pm To 9pm screaming and shouting, about 9 kids some age 5 6, on a communal gardens. The parents can see them but have no care or respect for the others in the flats , eg people going early to sleep to get up for work. Why can't parents ask their kids to tone it down a bit , besides I'd not let my kid out age 5 screaming at night. Igor him asleep by 7 mainly.

Jen 09/04/2023 at 3:51 pm

Seriously some of the comments on here , people need to get a life? It takes a village to raise a child and if you local government fails to provide anywhere for children and teenagers to go is that their fault, if your local health fails children by not providing mental health services is that their fault? Lobby your MP’s get facilities for kids and young people in your area - stressed as you are they are also stressed living in concrete jungles or places that have absolutely no interest in their community of children . I live in a tiny rural village in Wales - couldn’t get more chocolate box and many from England and set up life with their young families- but did they invest in their community- no they invested in a new Land Rover or set of Golf clubs and their now 12-14 year olds are hanging around with nothing to do, drinking alcohol and taking drugs yet still their eyes remain on themselves and not on their children.

Worried 10/11/2022 at 7:13 pm

I have kids come into my garden when I told them it isn't safe to play on the trampoline as it's old and coming apart I was called names and told they know my son and will beat him up had they go to the same school I honestly don't know what to do my anxiety is through the roof now help!!!

Caz 02/09/2022 at 5:15 am

Some Indian lads who live on my road keep harrassing me. They whistle when they see me and they whistled at me and calling me pinky when I was trying to put out the bins. As soon as I heard them I went back into my house. I didn't know they were out there that time of night. Before 9pm. 1st September 2022. They've been inside all day so I didn't think they'd be out there that time of night.

Fionasayshi 01/09/2022 at 11:31 am

Kids on my street always up to no good. Had a child hit my front door with a metal pole at half 10 last night. There's a child that does its bathroom business in the street, one neighbour has an ASBO but continues to cause trouble after being told if they start causing trouble, they have to be relocated as they are on their final warning. Kids are constantly playing knock a door run, kicking footballs at the houses, they have damaged someone's property yet Clarion and the council won't do anything. The street is a bomb site with broken toys and rubbish everywhere. It's unbearable now. Causing a lot of stress but nobody seems to want to sort the issues out. Called the police on the non emergency number and they left me a message telling me to ring back but they aren't picking up

Donny 30/07/2022 at 8:39 am

My neighbours 17 year old daughter is walking around their back yard naked. This has been going on for the last 2 years and I have spoken to the mother as she is single. Nothing has changed and now her 15 year old son Is walking around naked as well. What can I do to stop this.

Gos 27/05/2022 at 8:30 pm

No matter what time it is the kids are knocking into my door and banging. Kick their ball into my garden, climb my wall, hitting my house windows, doors and car with the ball. They also misbehave and using threatening words. I emailed the council about this and they told me they can't help as the playground is opposite my house. I don't have problem with kids playing in the playground. I just don't want them knocking in my door anytime of the day, misbehaving using fowl language and interrupting our privacy. I don't know what to do in this situation.

Houbla 28/07/2021 at 11:19 am

Hello I live with one family in the same flat . Parents and 3 kids . They doing a lot of noise

soso 17/07/2021 at 9:03 pm

For about 3 weeks now I have had neighbourhood kids playing football at the back of our block of flats. they are loud, agreesive, use foul language and kick footballs at our windows. I do not know what to do. When one of them saw me looking out my window he disappeared and then his dad came banging on my window and called me a pervert. Any advice welcome

J 18/06/2021 at 9:17 pm

We're in a semi detached house and every night liek clockwork our neighbours son has a meltdown. He screams, swears, bangs on the walls, it wakes my two children. We have spoken to the parents and they have told us he has ADHD amongst other things. They have tried getting help from social services but to no avail. We too have gone to the environmental health, kept a diary log which is daily, nights and early mornings. Also recorded him but again they haven't done anything. We feel exhausted as it's been going on for so long now and we can't seem to get any help. Has anyone else experienced this and if so how was it resolved. I did wonder if it's because he's a minor (teenager approx 13) with mental health issues that no one was doing anything. But we can't live like this, it's impacting on our lives too.

gettogether 15/06/2021 at 8:06 pm

hi everyone i have lived with the problem of football outside my house for years &years its dreadful thuding ball hitting the wall shouting; hits your property they come on your property as if its there right police dont do anything nor the housing we should all send a letter to the government (' yes the government)make them take note what we all putting up with on a daily basis. playing of football on a public highway is an offence.its so stressful ruinins your life your home should be delight to come home to not a nighrmare .

Demps 23/04/2021 at 7:57 pm

Hi I live in London on a estate but my masonettes connected with the flats like all connected like cul de sac situation .even through lockdown these kids out all day but they have a new game let's see how many windows they can break with footballs they all gather outside my house I hate going into the kitchen Thier mouths are disgusting we get had a go at for looking out our windows ..we have a little kid likes playing with lighters I get it kids have to play but it proves that no parent control grows little anti social monsters there language is awful my neighbour told me she never comes to supervise her kids yet they instigate most of the trouble both our security gates are broken where they run bikes into them ..electric and gas boxes are smashed because of the football games windows being broken. And I don't know what to do really I have kids but they go out of the area to Thier own Freinds bit like a break from the chaos I can't even have Thier Freinds over one of the kids threatens to punch her face in in the first week we moved in .

BRISBANE 07/02/2021 at 2:50 pm

SHAW.. CROMPTON BOWLING CLUB ... GLEBE STREET.. DUCHESS STREET.... YOUTHS DRINKING ALCOHOL. USING DRUGS. DAMAGING THE BOWLING GREEN PLAY FOOTBALL. RIDING BIKES.. THEY ARE MAKING A MESS THE OLD PEOPLE HOW RUN THE BOWLING CAN NOT AFFORD TO REPAIR THE DAMAGE THEY ARE DOING IT SO SO SAD TO SEE THE POLICE NOT DOING ANYTHING AT ALL WHEN THEY ARE CONTACTED.. IS THIS HOW WE ALLOW THE YOUNGER GENERATION TO JUST DAMAGE ANYTHING THEY WANT TO...... THERE IS SO MUCH DAMAGE THAT AS BEEN DONE TO THE BOWING CLUB AND THE GREEN.. THAT THE PEOPLE AROUND THE CLUB ARE TIRED OF PHONING THE POLICE AND CAN NOT GET THROUGH AT ALL.. WHAT HAS THE COUNTRY BECOME.. PLEASE IF YOU SEE THESE YOUTHS CONTACT THE Police ... Before they do more Damage or we will be forced to close the club and the Bowling green...

BRISBANE 07/02/2021 at 2:41 pm

CROMPTON BOWLING CLUB ... KIDS DAMAGING THE BOWLING GREEN PLAY FOOTBALL. RIDING BIKES.. THEY ARE MAKING A MESS THE OLD PEOPLE HOW RUN THE BOWLING CAN NOT AFFORD TO REPAIR THE DAMAGE THEY ARE DOING IT SO SO SAD TO SEE THE POLICE NOT DOING ANYTHING AT ALL WHEN THEY ARE CONTACTED.. IS THIS HOW WE ALLOW THE YOUNGER GENERATION TO JUST DAMAGE ANYTHING THEY WANT TO...... THERE IS SO MUCH DAMAGE THAT AS BEEN DONE TO THE BOWING CLUB AND THE GREEN.. THAT THE PEOPLE AROUND THE CLUB ARE TIRED OF PHONING THE POLICE AND CAN NOT GET THROUGH AT ALL.. WHAT HAS THE COUNTRY BECOME..

KK 11/11/2020 at 3:56 pm

Hi
Not sure what to do in this scenario, I live near to the school and from past 4 weeks I can see school kids randomly hitting/kicking our door both morning and afternoon times when they going home. I recently caught one of them but they blaming others and I have reported to the school via email and there is no response. Today I have visited the school and reported this issue to the care taker as I caught the guy who was doing but unable to take him with me. I point what is the best thing to do in this scenario and how too stop this, this is effecting my little one as he is just 2yrs and whenever he is in sleep the school kids make this issue by kicking the door.
CAN I DO MYSELF ANYTHING TO STOP THIS? ARE THEY GOING TO BE ANY LEGAL ISSUES IF I PERSONALLY INVOLVE?
Many Thanks

Jay 09/11/2020 at 8:52 am

We own our home but the housing association has bought the house next door in our row of terraced houses, we've had many families live there and we've made many friends. We now have the children from Hell moved in and it's a nightmare, both parents are unapproachable and the two girls ( 7 and 5) are running up and down the stairs crashing and banging at midnight and 0100. We've tried to contact them through the Housing Assoc. who are totally useless and not interested.....We are struggling here I personally am in bad health and my wife is also not too good! Any ideas?

Justbenice 27/08/2020 at 9:37 am

I have a funny one! What if it's an adult doing it?! We have a childless couple and one of them throws stones at our fence. Admittedly, they didn't like the fence, but the behaviour for an adult 'professional' just seems pretty far gone. They don't hide it either!! We put so much into why a child might do it but what about an adult?!

Barebum 16/07/2020 at 1:36 pm

We have recently moved to a new property and 1 of the children next door has a disability (autism) This child is alway playing in the garden as kids do but the problem I have is he is always naked.
My 16 year old daughter won’t have friends round or sit downstairs in the living room as she is embarrassed by this child.
The social work said it is not something they deal with unless the child is in danger.

Help please

LauraLou 14/04/2020 at 3:43 pm

My partner and I live in a rather undesirable part of London in a house that's been converted into flats. We are on the ground floor in a 1 bed, the flat upstairs is I believe is a 2 bed flat.
We are both professionals the people upstairs don't appear to work. It's a 2 bed flat but seems to be many men living there, I've counted 7, how 7 grownups are living in a little flat is beyond me. There are also young children living there and they are the problem.

The kids are allowed to run around and jump off furniture, well, that is what the random banging and thuds sound like on my ceiling. I love children but don't want to hear them in the evenings and at times late into the night. Recently, during the this lock down the noise has become unbearable!
No one speaks English and so can't really communicate with them. It's got so my partner and I can't enjoy our evenings and weekends. Last night the constant banging and thuds screaming and shouting went on till past 2am!
My nerves are frazzled I just want some quiet! The council say they don't deal with complaints about children's noise but I think it's excessive, it's like they are literally in the next room. Do we have no redress?? Has anyone ideas what we can do? I don't think it's fair to have to listen to all this noise.

Akh 02/02/2020 at 7:21 pm

Kids throwing stones from alley across road damage done police told don,t care told not to do anything what are we paying for. will take pics and leaflets my area to find there address and take parents to court

Kimmyxoxo 19/01/2020 at 1:28 pm

Hi

I’m so so mad ?? I live in a four in a block but the neighbour below me I live on top of him has kids I know its not everyday I hear them but ffs everytime they are in his flat they are constantly noisy I live near a play park and he can’t even take the kids to it to let them run about or doesn’t let them outside either so when he has them they just run about his flat all day/night they jump about and kick walls/doors etc and he just lets them do whatever they want I’ve had enough I feel like I’m walking on eggshells living here cos it’s just constant noise and anytime I’m noisy which is never he threatens me I’ve been to police on him but they can’t do anything and I’m at my wits end. Why can he not keeps his kids under control? I know kids will be kids but who lets their kids run about all day and sometimes it 9 hours I have to listen to it please I would like some advice on what to do thanks

Follower of Christ 07/08/2019 at 10:27 am

I need to tell people this. This disintegration of society, family, law and justice are all by design. Police are non-existent and are merely a private security firm controlled by the 1% so called elites. Look up New World Order and "Order Out Of Chaos" also look into "Deep State".
The powers that be worship Satan and do his bidding (only they call him Lucifer). A huge part of the problem is the Freemasons. They are evil. Some people are low level and are kept in the dark but once you climb the degrees you find out that they worship Lucifer/Satan.
You may balk or even laugh at loud and scoff at this but have you had any help so far? Do you feel powerless? Are the criminals being protected?

Do you know what you need to realise? This is a spiritual battle. These children that you are all complaining about have demons inside them. If you do not have God's spirit within you are vulnerable to the demonic. Do the children, even the really young ones, sometimes seem evil? That's because they have an evil spirit inside them that tells them to do these things and the child then believes that the voices they listen to are their own thoughts. I'm not saying they are not responsible for what they do (as we all have a sin nature) but they give themselves over to worse sins than they on their own would be capable of.

What you need to do is rebuke the children in the name of Jesus Christ. Command the children to go home in the name of Jesus Christ. You will be shocked at how effective this is! This will only work though if you believe in the power behind Jesus Christ name. Christians especially will have greater protection from these evil entities.
Yes the children and parents are possessed by evil entities.
Can't you see darkness rising in our culture? It coincides exactly with God being removed from our schools, our homes, our country and even our church.

Seek Jesus Christ, repent and accept that He died for you, resurrected on the third day and is seated at the right hand of our Heavenly Father.
Time is running out. We don't have much time left until the Great Tribulation from the book of Revelation.
The violence and rottenness and lawlessness seen in the world today are signs of the "birth pangs" of the coming of the antichrist.
Do not take the mark of the beast.
Seek Jesus now while there is still time!

Sunny 04/08/2019 at 8:49 pm

My neighbours older kids are throwing stones our and next door neighbours windows but our neighbour has a Heart condition and not supposed to get stressed out. The child is 11yrs old and really should know better but everytime you tell the mother she Verbally abuses us..the language is horrific and she doesn't care that the kids are standing right next to her... she doesn't really give a hoot.
Have phoned the police but there is nothing they can do apparently and there was supposed to be a community police officer coming to speak to them and us but this happened about 2-3 weeks ago and still no visit. My main worry is if it continues and the lady next door has an attack that the kids have caused then What will the Authorities/police do then.(prob nothing again)

Lea 26/07/2019 at 11:13 am

@Jody I'm having the same issues.... kids and parents of the kids verballing abusing my kids and myself I've had cctv installed and the police are involved but the police are reluctant to put any kind of order on the parents due to the kids ages so in the mean time were still ducks to this verbal abuse so if you find anything out that the police will actually do please share!

Jody 13/06/2019 at 7:10 am

What powers do I have to stop kids from threatening violence & property damage & harassing me? They play chicken in the road on their bikes & scooters. Their parents do nothing as they don"t parent & don"t care as they are just as unpleasant. I'm afraid that I will get to the point where I do something stupid but what else can I do? Any advice welcomed as I"m sick of it all.

Cat 10/02/2019 at 9:49 am

My new downstairs neighbour (3 flats in a converted Victorian house) moved in at 1am in the morning with her screaming children. I had to be up at 5am the next day so was amazed at her arrival time but also when I stated to her the noise and the time she shrugged her shoulders as if she was doing nothing wrong. This, I soon realised, was only the start of things to come. Roll on 3 weeks later and my life is now dominated by a screaming toddler who is allowed to be up at all hours and scream the morning, day and evening away. Sometimes I get the double whammy with him stamping on the laminate flooring and also screaming. I've tried to talk to her about it but again there's nothing. More then this she's taken to playing loud music from 0845. She's a council tenant & doesn't work whereas myself and the other leaseholder work and we are at our wits end. We know children make noise but she seems to let him scream to his hearts content & doesn't even want to discuss it with us. I feel helpless about this.

Rachel 08/08/2018 at 10:11 am

I finally moved to a beautiful house in a nice area, with perfectly behaved neighbours. They have become backyard breeders now though. They never have any contact with the dogs, apart from feeding them, although they are on the thin side. Because the dogs are hungry, they bark and fight constantly, and are very aggressive. I have a dog and she is petrified of them. They throw themselves at the fence and even chew pieces out of it, they are constantly snarling. We started to smell Cannabis wafting through the wall, and when I complained, it stopped. We are elderly and disabled, and we had trouble getting the water pressure up high enough to take a shower. This has gone on for a long time. We have shared water pipes and for some reason, they had been running water all the time. The new neighbour the other side complained and now the water pressure is fine. We usually get up late, but this morning I got up at 8am, just in time to see him and her walking into the kennels holding a white carrier bag, followed by several people.They locked the doors and were in there for an age. The dogs were in the yard at the time. Should I report it?

Rachel 08/08/2018 at 9:51 am

I am an expert on anti-social behaviour. I lived next door to an appalling family for years, I watched the two boys(I also had 2 boys) from birth to 16. It was clear that they were going to be a problem. Their parents treated them with indifference, not allowing them in the house and keeping any food under lock and key. I had a weak husband, so I had to deal with it, he said he didn't want them to damage his car. They did anything and everything to disturb me. If their parents went out, they would break in and put the music on full blast. When they got older and were allowed in, they would watch me every second of the day, from their rear bedroom window. I used to love gardening, but as soon as I went outside, the music would go on full blast. We had a downstairs bathroom, and I had to walk through the kitchen to get to the toilet. They would throw things at the bathroom window and shout obscentites. I never had peace. Of course they played football, outside my house, regularly breaking windows. They would round up latchkey kids in the evening to cause a nuisance for us, and they gave kids as young as 5 cannabis. They were raided a few times for drugs and after the eldest had been kicked out, the youngest, aged 16 would gather as many kids as he could to annoy us. The end came when one night I said loudly, what's a 16 year old doing with young kids? His mother ran out and fetched him in, and he never played outside again, lol

Reggaeguy 09/07/2018 at 9:28 pm

I've got nuisance neighbough think his peado his got camera on my little girl when I open her roller blind in morning his in his back garden staring up at her window his causing my little girl to be very depressed when she's on trampoline his watching her his sick in the head I've been to police I even called him peado I got pulled in by the police there's just no justice these days reported cameras on my property facing her trampoline then when police go to his door he moves cameras

belly must 25/04/2018 at 6:08 pm

i am really sorry to hear the problems you are having, please dont give up. made notes of what is taking place and each it happen call the police and report the problems. each time ask the police for a crime number, just keep on calling everytime and made sure they record it and give you the number, and you may get some results.

good luck

melly must 25/04/2018 at 5:54 pm

my heart gose out to every one, not very nice not to be able to enjoy your home. i have problems with kids damaging my car with football and rugby ball and the father dont care. the problem is some of those kids i dont think is more than between 6 to 8 years old, the street they play on is a main street, car have to keep slowing down not to run them over but no one look as if they care. i reported this to the police time and time again, at one time i was told when the car get damage they will come out.
i have been on to the housing association, and each time i call them i can see a result.. so please dont give up, made notes of what is happening and the time and dates and keep reporting the problems.
good luck

Carollynn 08/01/2018 at 4:48 pm

We own our home in a street which is currently being terrorised by children under 10.
The adults who clearly know the kids (know these neighbours have children but do not know who each child belongs to) turn a blind eye to everything and have even stood outside their homes and watched the children cause a nuisance to other neighbours and laugh.

They are constantly kicking our door every night, throwing verbal abuse and swearing when we or other childless couples pass them and at one point kicked a football at my stomach after they found out I was pregnant.

We can't shout at them because they bring a bigger group and start kicking the door everytime they pass.
They also harrass other neighbours in our street and the street over but so far nothings ever been done about them.

I'm a nervous wreck coming home, I'm staying out later to avoid them but I can't do it every night.

I don't know what to do since we don't know who their parents are or where to go, I just sit and cry until they go to bed around 9pm

Craig86 30/11/2017 at 6:55 pm

I'm at my wits end with the kids around here! They are constantly throwing things at the windows this happens at least 6 times a day! My neighbor has just had his window smashed! The only thing i can do is tell them off! But as you would expect they just throw lots of abuse at me! They beat my son up on a-couple of occasions. And that's just the start of it. They don't even live on this estate. They live in council houses a-round the corner! I just don't no what to do?!? I can't harm them as they are minors and I'll be the one in trouble! It's like I've just got to sit back and take the abuse! Need help!!

scared 22/10/2017 at 10:42 am

Hi, wonder if anyone out there can give me advise - its a own house, kids around 15 years old have been consistently throw large slate stones at my windows.(got a broken window last week) They came friday, saturday, thurdsday and a week after on firday. The heavy rain and wind these past few days has stopped then coming. I feel target by these kid form the area, scared and frightened and times. I feel its all related to this boy 1 back in early March throwing stones at our street and had cctv installed. Boy 1 was name on this Octember and have police given warning not taken to court because I did not what further trouble. Boy 1 must have talk to his friends/gang and now I have kids consistently throwing stone at my house, same boys but with different people at times. Polices have came and can't idenfield them. I had shock window alarm put on window, admit a loud sound when hit. Not stop them coming back. I don't know what to do anymore- friends told me to ignore them, let them throw and they will go away. I'm a sitting duck no matter what. last resort sell and move out!

Unhappy 03/07/2017 at 5:09 pm

Hi I can sympathise with most things our estate isn't as bad as some yet we have the dreaded 'football' issue, last night I was relaxg in front of tv when heard the familiar faint thuds of the football hittg the front of my living room, (am in a bungalow), the thuds got louder and after 20mins stopped but needless to say I struggled to relax. Saw two policemen today and I've had advice not to approach the youths, just ring 101 and they'll try to come over. Our council don't do anythg but sadly, this time of year is my least favourite because of that football. I wish I could move my bungalow and live in a field. If anyone has same trouble KEEP phoning as it does help...sort of!

Jackie 30/03/2017 at 10:38 am

We have a group of kids in our area who are running riot. This has been going on for 2years. They have assaulted my son many times been cautioned and charged parents spoken to. They have also attacked my car. Thrown stones at windows shout abuse vulgar things harass myself my son and my parents. Police have been involved for 2years we keep getting told it's difficult to stop this because of there ages which range from 8-12. My son can't go out and we can't walk the streets is there anything else we can do to stop this.

Edy 23/01/2017 at 4:24 pm

What happen if a child would smash a glass bottle and the camera so him what would the police do

Isca 11/11/2016 at 5:34 pm

Neighbours moved in six months ago. We put up with daily screaming, shouting, banging, at all hours by their four old.
I am a parent and have never heard anything like it.
Had a chat with them after a couple of months. No change.
Child kicks, yells, has screeched at our cat & dog.
I thought there were child protection issues or perhaps autism-type problems
However, speaking with the other neighbour, we realised that the parents often deliberately wind-up the child. E.g. The neighbour knocked on my wall, during another episode at 6.30am on a Sunday. The neighbour put on the hairdryer and left it on for an hour. The child was distraught.
I have recordings, it's like they're in your room.
Their landlord is aware and sent a letter, but won't make soundproofing provisions e.g. boards or carpets.
We all have children, but have not experienced this before.
Lots of tears, exhaustion. Earplugs causing earwax.
Just recently the neighbour has taken to leaving a chirping burglar alarm on, which chirps 24/7 when they're away.
What's our next step? Their letting agent & landlord won't do anymore.
We feel sorry for the little lad because he's not learning his "in door voice" and generally antisocial, so it will only get worse.
Thanks in advance.

EddyJ 20/09/2016 at 12:06 pm

I'm fed up with the way this countries local authorities have little to no power in stopping abusive violent minors from terrorising regular people. I am at pains to do anything. I know if I hit one I'm in big trouble, so I just have to stand there and take abuse from them - and they know this too.
More needs to be done to help tackle this problem

Julie 04/09/2016 at 1:03 pm

The area I live in is semi rural, was so peaceful and quiet until they built new houses and now I'm having kids playing football outside my bungalow, the parents don't care, the kids are naughty and backchat, what can I do?

Halfpenny 22/08/2016 at 10:07 pm

I live in a dead end Road near a blocked off Road where cars can turn to exit. I am 3 doors in from there and about 5 kids 3 are from one family are playing football always outside my home tried telling them and parents I don't want my house damaged, insulted shouted at by parents or guardians in front of kids leave them to run feral till 10pm and their swearing is adult, what time is it that 10 -12 year olds should be home?

Stella 11/08/2016 at 4:09 pm

I have a few kids running around and riding their bikes in the street and pavement every day. That's not the problem...the problem is they throw water bombs, wet toilet roll on the windows to the front of the house.

Today they were about to throw a glass bottle but couldn't see that I was standing in front of the window (net curtain) so they couldn't see inside...I shouted out, "Don't do it!" And they ran off...then 30 seconds later came back to finish what theyou started...I opened the front door and the little one ran whilst the others were on bikes.
You can see along the street these wet tissue 'bombs' splattered on other houses where people are on holiday.

What can I do? These kids do not live on this street as I've seen them on other streets. They ride their bikes up and down as it's the quieter of the few...

Please help...pregnant and stressed and don't need to fear stepping out my front door in case they throw something at me or smash a window?!

ProblemNeighbours Editor 08/08/2016 at 11:38 am

You can stop the neighbour's children from entering your garden. Just keep your own children in your own garden unless you're with them.

NT 07/08/2016 at 6:42 pm

Hi my neighbours children are really out of control and I don't know what to do. I have spoken to the parents on a number of occasions and they don't care. The tried hitting my nephew with a knife the other day and nothing was done about it and I feel it's unfair if I stop our kids from going outside what shall I do?

Jill 09/06/2016 at 9:28 am

Hi
Not sure who I have to get in touch with about this, we have problems with kids vandalising my property and also throwing stuff in to my back garden they climb on to the garages then on to my wall, my concern is that I'm not able to let my Grandaughter play out in the back garden as I'm so scared that she will get hurt if they throw something over while she is out there playing. the kids keep through things into my garden like glass bottle metal pipes etc they also keep vandalising my green by pulling up my plants we have asked them nicely to get off the wall but we get a load of abuse from them, we can't contact the parents as they are not from the area. This has only happened for the Last 2 year since the council made us remove the ivory bushes as it was damaging there garages and now we have this, it's every day when the kids come home from school. WHAT CAN I DO

ProblemNeighbours Editor 08/06/2016 at 11:09 am

Try talking to the neighbours first. Generally there is not much you can do about family noise but if the language is as bad as you say, your local police community support officer might be willing to get involved.

dutch 06/06/2016 at 6:31 pm

I live with my husband who is disabled next door to a family of 5 children aged 2 to 10 years old,they are very noisey running around starting at 5.30 am till 10 pm.We are not able to sit in our garden due to a consent squireling and bad langauge.can we do anything

Stressed out 04/06/2016 at 9:50 pm

Hello am glad I am not alone in this world of unruly and selfish kids. Yes I am 34 and live in a bungalow there are two others, I am on the end. Around the bungalows are council houses (northumberland council) and unfortunately every spring/summer kids gather on the front area and play football which I despair of as some of them on purpose kick the ball against the living room which the sound vibrates and I hear in the bedroom even with my music on loud. I can only not hear it if I go into the kitchen and shut the door with my wireless headphones on.
I caught one of them kicking the ball into my front garden, leaving the ball and then kicked it on the front door at 7:45pm before going away, I am very nervous of loud noises and I generally dont have a problem with the area or the bungalow but when I hear the footbal I wish sometimes I could run away or move. I house sit for my dad when he stays at the caravan he has no such trouble like this and I wish I could move but am unemployed and moving isnt cheap and why should i move because of stupid kids?
I try to tolerate it but get very nervous when the bang against the property is loud my neighbour hates it too but our council wont act unless we know who the parents of the child are. We tend to get gatherings of 8-10 kiids during the summer, not every day but I feel so stuck and sick when I wonder how to get through this.
I find the police aren't that helpful. Anyone else have footballs hit against the properties??

penny 23/04/2016 at 10:06 pm

I am one frustrated disabled elder lady.........children from across the road come over and ride there scooters up and down my front window goading my husband to go out .....he went out once and asked them to move (i was in bed ) ..being in a bungalow they were 12 foot from my window......i heard them laughing at him then when he came in they were doing it again staring into my bungalow laughing.... when i got up and went out i was told my dads over he wants to talk to HIM in there .....i told him if your dad wants to talk to us then fetch him but to no avail....so i got dressed and went over to this childs dad ...i said to him "you wanted to talk to me ?" to which the answer was "NO" so i told him about his children annoying the elderly whom was in bed his reply was they are kids lady was you not a kid once.............NO RESPECT AT ALL..........they just laughed at me .....oh yes it was 9pm......what can i do ???

m4sta 18/04/2016 at 6:58 pm

I live in an estate with a car parking in the middle and the houses are built around the parking. Parking is accessible via the electric gate or via our back garden doors. The problem is that on normal day there is about 10 kids playing football there, kicking the ball against the fences, cars ect. Riding bikes and doing all other sorts of things kids do. This woudnd be an issue but so far my car was dented and scratched, my wife's cas is badly scratched, a few of my neighbours cars have been either dented or scrached. The other problem is that one of my neighbours is a childminder and after school she's looking after her own and few other kids. But she's not really looking after them, she just let them out on the car park and she dissapears. There is no chance to have a peacefull afternoon in the back garden because all you can hear are screams and bangs. Is there anything that can be done to stop this?

ProblemNeighbours Editor 15/04/2016 at 2:31 pm

Is this noise during the day? Are you council tenants? Will the council consider re-housing you in more appropriate accommodation. It seems very strange for a council to discuss antisocial behaviour orders in relation to 3year olds.

shoe lover 13/04/2016 at 5:18 pm

hi
my down stairs neighbour has complained to the council that my 3 year old twin boys are too noisey and the council are talking about giving them and us an asbo
the boys have sensory processing disorder so its not just a case of bad or noisey behaviour. the council arent taking any of this into account.
any suggestions of help or advice

up set 10/04/2016 at 7:41 am

I love in housing association houses . N.ireland. my daughter has been bullyed for the passed 3 years by one family's kids the 9 year old is so bad to my 6 year old. She has hit kicked called her names pushed her off her bike. Left her out of games . Got the other children on the street to stop talking to her. It got so bad last year a got my housing officer involved. This family has four kids and the kids where start to be cheeky to me and my family when we walked in and out of are home. The parents made an greement they would watch the kids when they are outside playing . But they still don't watch them and my daughter has started getting bullyed my the girl again. Not sure what to do as perents of the kids are not that nice. And they have broke the agreement. Should I tell housing officer. Or will it make things worry??

Tinie 05/04/2016 at 12:38 am

I'm having the same problem kids playing football in a playing area up in the flats we have a high level wall and the playing area is above that wall it's a small area for play don't think it's for football there's a mental light fencing but it's not high enough, every time the weather's lovely my daughter likes to play in the garden the balls and heavy stuff as come over to our garden it's accident waiting to happen . I've been verbally abused by the young kids and a parent, and the kid one summer were rude a vulgar stuff when my older daughter had a few friends around on her birthday a ball came flying over hit the furniture and our drinks went every where and every summer or nice wheather it keeps going on since 3 years we moved in had enough cause we like to enjoy our garden in the nice weather but can't relax nothing as been done from community police went round there and trying to contact the landlord they don't Answer to your calls and we Emailed and ignored the Email completely. We can't keep on all the time it's so wearing and we have to sit back I might go to the papers if nothing else can be done can't take it any more please help we had just had someone in our garden without our permission and broke the bin and the compost at the top of tthe garden.. getting nothing done?

Banana 04/04/2016 at 7:55 pm

Children in our estate always crowd around our back garden fence, they play football against another neighbours garage (none of the children's parents own the garage) they are loud and very rude out there. They've broken our fence and the garage door of our neighbour. we have to tell the children daily not to kick the ball at our fence, wall and the roof that joins our house to the next! At the end of my tether with telling them and them being rude in response! Just wondered if there was anything we could do about it

ProblemNeighbours Editor 04/04/2016 at 11:38 am

The police should be able to do something about both the racism and the antisocial behaviour. Tell you parents to contact your local police community support officer.

Ans 01/04/2016 at 11:43 am

This has been happening for about two years now, our road used to be a nice peaceful place until our next door neighbours moved in. Since we live near council flats, there are a lot of kids but the neighbour's kids started rounding them up and playing football outside our house, at first we didn't mind but it seems that they are using our house as a goal and only our house gets hit but when its theirs, they don't like it. When they have a gathering at their house, they sometimes throw rubbish into our back garden. We then called tye police because the children stared swearing excessively and loudly even other neighbours complained about it. We replaced our fence twice because they keep breaking it with the ball. My mum works nights so she gets disturbed as our windows even shake when the ball hits it. The small kids would sometimes open their window when we enter our house and they would keep calling out to us,"WHY ARE YOU BLACK" repeattedly. We have had enough and we really need help, they have also done other things but I only pointed out the most repeated things. I'm only 15 and cant really do anything about it so please help. Also the parents do not care, they will even watch their children be rude to us.

Sam 11/02/2016 at 6:12 pm

My son is currently smashing up the house screaming and swearing is this a police matter

ProblemNeighbours Editor 25/01/2016 at 2:33 pm

We don't really know what action the police will take as this will be at their discretion.

Scared Boy 23/01/2016 at 1:31 pm

Basically just after Christmas my friend rode his bike into staples( computer store and stuff like that) we didn't get no further than the security scanners I just walked in, after that they forwarded the CCTV footage to the police which then contacted school, will I get a asbo for this I am very scared and can someone please help me

Debi36 11/09/2015 at 7:53 pm

Been reading all the comments. I'm in the same situation. Area I live in (flats and maisonettes with several grassy 'communal' areas) used to be such a nice place - until several homeowners moved out and have rented their properties. It now has a 'Trailer Park' aura about it - kids running around screeching, often until gone 11pm at night, and some of them don't even go to primary school yet, sofas being dumped in the car park., toys and bikes and all sorts of nasty things left all over the communal paths, chalk drawings on the outside walls of the downstairs flats - I too am thinking of moving - I've lived in my property over 15 years and up until the trailer park brigade moved in it was lovely around here - they've well and truly lowered the tone

ProblemNeighbours Editor 04/09/2015 at 10:11 am

Unfortunately if you do not want to contact the police, there's little else you can do if you do not know who the parents are. Do you have a local PCSO who you could chat to about this? It may be more informal than reporting it via the 101 number. You could also try contacting your local councillor to see if they have any suggestions. Writing to local to schools to ask them to talk to all kids about what antisocial behaviour is might also be an option.

annoyed 03/09/2015 at 3:12 pm

My neighbours and I live in terraced houses, and there are kids in and around our neighbourhood whose favourite past-time seems to be climbing on and over our fences gardens and garden sheds in our back yards whilst being distructive and disruptive all day whilst we are at work, and worse, in the evening when we return. they trespass willingly onto our properties and rufuse to listen to tennants who tell them to leave. noone seems to know who their parents are or where they live and they are increasingly becoming a menance. they are a group of boys ranging in age between about 8-14. they yell obcenities, are rowdy and indimidating. is there anything we can do without resorting to calling the police?

ProblemNeighbours Editor 28/08/2015 at 10:26 am

If the music noise is loud/excessive, lasts for a reasonable length of time and is after 10 or 11 at night, then you can make a complaint to your environmental health officer. There's not much you can complain about with regards to children asking if you want your car washing though. If you have damage on your vehicle report it to the police.

Stevie1978 27/08/2015 at 10:27 am

I have a few problems.. However, not sure if i can report.
Whenever we go in/work in garden.. Neighbours turn up music on stereo and of course bass us heir priority.
Also, their children constantly knock on doors asking people if they want their car washed.
Late evening the children are throwing stones around the area.
I have noticed marks on my bonnet in the morning which werent their. Be night before.. Obviously haveno hard evidence.
Any ideas what i can do..

CASS 17/07/2015 at 6:13 pm

I leave in a town and my neighbours have ganged up on us claiming we are making noise for they because my two year old at time run around the house. My child is a happy child .However the problem stated soon after we moved in and the neighbours claimed we were making noise for them . the council installed noise detectors in their house and nothing was found. that was in 2011, so the case was closed. But soon after l gave birth to my son., one day l was hanging washing out side . The neighbour came out of his flat like a charging bull and said could you f....ken turn your music down l was shocked because my newly born child was asleep and we never connected our radio since we moved in a flat.I politely told him that I could also here the radio and l was not the one . he just walked away. that was 2013 two days after l was out of hospital. then we never heard from them . at the end of 2014 the accusations stated and one day the same neighbour came and said to my partner you and your child are making noise for us . we ignored the comment not knowing that these people were on a mission. Weeks followed we had phone calls from the council . then the neighbours started filing complaints every single day. One day they claimed we signed for their parcel and we were insulted and threatened to call the police for us. We were surprised cause the day in question we were not at home. we told the council but this was ignored. Threats from the council kept coming and one of the personnel from the council came to investigated and he claimed that he could here our son running around and it was annoying him . to my surprise if he heard all that why did he not come up and inform us that we were making noise /my two year old was running around. this to me we are being treated less favorable by the council because we are blck.

eve 15/06/2015 at 7:29 pm

You just can write a beautiful articles about how great you and your system is, but it is not. We have a problem with group of kids age about 10. They are comming everyday in our backyard, they scream, jumping into roof and wall around the building. They do not leave in our building. We cannot have peace in our flat, we feel helpless, we try to call to police but I just heard that it is not their business. And when one time my partner tried kick them out, mother one of them came and strats frighten us social services and police because her son cry and was scary. And in her opinion they just play, they are kids, but they not! I am full of stress, I cannot rest after work, and I don't

Charlie 22/05/2015 at 10:01 am

To Newty, sorry you are having a tough time. I could have written your post word for word. We have had damage to our car, fences, hedging, conservatory roof - the list goes on. We also know the landlord - he is not interested provided he gets his rent - and has, in fact, blamed us for the tenants bad behaviour.These kids don't respect other people's property or space. Be careful before you move, you could be jumping out of the frying pan into the fire. Hope everything works out for you.

newty 21/05/2015 at 8:36 pm

When our neighbours moved out, renting their house out, we were 'reassured' don't worry we'll make sure 'they'are alright. Well 18 months later after continually asking the kids and their mother NOT to play near our drive or car ,we have had nearly £ 900 worth of damage to a new car . We have unfortunately no proof who was responsible and have forked out nearly another £800 on cctv to monitor both gardens and our drive. Both kids seem oblivious to boundaries and other people's property as does the mother. They seem to revel in winding us up, my husband in particular. We are now in a position where we are considering getting into debt with another mortgage and moving house. The landlord now refuses to take any phonecalls from us. No-one should underestimate the negative effect this has on your health and quality of life

ProblemNeighbours Editor 15/05/2015 at 12:21 pm

@evo. Report this to the police or your local police community support officer. If you live in rent accomodation contact the landlord who may be able to advise or give support - and if the trouble makers are also tenants of theirs, they could take action.

Evo 11/05/2015 at 4:11 pm

What do you suggest we do. We have a group of children who gather outside our lounge window pulling faces, the old two finger job and making inappropriate gestures. When this first happened we drew our blinds but this only aggrivated them and they came under to window and knocked on it very hard. This happened again yesterday afternoon, so we thought, just ignore them they will go away, but, NO. It all started again, banging on lounge window, making gestures at my elderly Father through window. My Mother, who is 80 yrs old is waiting to have a major heart operation and this abuse is making her ill, causing pains in her chest and angina attacks.
We know where the culprits live but their parents are as bad if not worse as their kids. And I mean kids, the eldest is 8 yrs old !!! Any suggestions would be gratefully received

Gardeningguru 11/05/2015 at 11:00 am

Oh Fed up - I could have written your posts!:( The way people bring up their children is a national disgrace! It is not always the "typical" parents who make these mistakes either. The ones next door to us have two top of the range cars, a large house and expensive tastes - their son is a little &*$£!!!! Caught him in the tree trying to stone us and our car but if you say anything to them you get a very colourful reply (he is 8!) There are various cousins too - all horrible, spoiled, nasty little brats! All allowed to play GTA, COD etc, from the age of 6! I despair. Adults in charge of these horrors are functioning alcoholics and don't give a toss. Like you, we have complained, we are the villains, they are NEVER wrong. Lazy people, lazy parenting = arrogant, entitled, narcissistic kids!

Fed up 10/05/2015 at 5:47 pm

Just reading all your posts is winding me up. I can't believe how these people can be so oblivious to the stress and anxiety they and their children can cause!! I have to tolerate two kids kicking a football off the cars and house windows and nobody else in the street says anything to them! We have an elderly lady living next door and they use her lawn as a pitch and her window as a goal. I'd be furious if that was happening to my gran. We have had words with them and they have backed away from our car but i have been out in the car and my partner has caught them using our drive as a goal several times. He confronted the parent on one occasion and she threatened to post cat mess through our letter box... She thinks the cat mess in her garden is a result of our HOUSE cat! Excellent parenting!!

Kali 04/05/2015 at 7:11 pm

I've been living in a council flat for 10 years and it's on the ground floor. I've put up with so much noise and problems with neighbours playing football etc,this is always an issue when living on the ground floor, I've tried to move from my flat and currently on the homeswapper website but have no joy, not many people want to be living on the ground floor especially in a block.Im really really desperate to move out of the flat and hate the summer times when kids are off cos there's soooo much noise, kids and teens running around the block making noise and playing football,Mind you they play football most of the days even weekends and after school. I hate the thumping sound of the footballs when they hit my window.The antisocial behaviour team don't do did all and told me to find out what number the kids live at so they can have a word with their parents. how the hell do I know what flat numbers they all live lol! My neighbour above me is so noisey too, I can hear him walking across the flat and I think he's got no underlay under his laminate flooring, also he has a TV in his bedroom, which I can hear below as the noise is really driving me nuts, complaining didn't get me any where and he thinks he can get away with it co she's a leaseholder and I'm a council tenent,Also I can hear him when he goes for a pee in the bathroom. It sounds like there's a ghost living in my flat.Block of flats are really bad when it comes to noise etc. You can never get rid of it till you actually move out and get a better place to live on. I have to put up with the noises till I find somewhere else and not on the ground floor in a stupid block with loads of kids running and shouting

fed up 20/03/2015 at 7:00 pm

Outside my ground floor flat balls are kicked around continuously when the children are off school! Often whacking my windows really hard, sooner or later damage will be done! The neighbour's whose child does it rent and don't care about property at all. They are also really irresponsible to let their child play in a street just off of the main rd! But they don't seem to care and just encourage him more. There are plenty of parks in the area, why not take him to the park? Laziness! I can't tell you how annoying it is! When it isn't happening at the front he does it at the back then it lands in my garden repeatedly and has broken garden lights, ornaments etc.... He had a spell of continually jumping into our garden to retrieve his ball! We asked politely for him to stop and I heard his parents say to him go on get it just say, "sorry just getting my ball back." Over and over again! In the end I asked politely to the parents and said we would throw it back when we saw it but of course people don't like to be told anything do they! They then threw a man's shoe at my back door whilst having a party! We put fences up at our time and expense and all the father could do was deliberately whack balls at the fence panels hard! These are the kind of irresponsible parents that let their children whack football's in the street and annoy the rest of the street, they,have no respect for anyone else and think they rule the rd and can behave however they like! If something offends them though they'll be the first to complain! Selfish idiots! Perhaps it's be be because they rent they have no respect for property! If they had to pay for property they might be more careful of other people's homes, knowing how much everything costs! They have a car, they bought that with hard earned cash like my home perhaps I should get my nephew to repeated whack a football against it see if they like it? Bloody people and their annoying kids! Have some consideration for people other than yourself, get off your lazy backsides and take them to the park. How will these children ever learn right from wrong if no one gives a dam!

nil 21/01/2015 at 8:41 am

I am sick and tired that people that dont control their kids and when they hit the beer etc.

zigzag1 27/09/2014 at 4:53 am

Football is a sport that should be enjoyed in the right place, without distrupting others.
Some parents want their children to play by their front door. If that's the case, teach your child to respect others as well as themselves. Playing in the road with a football is illigal, and will not help to turn a child into world class players. It not only is a noise pest to people, it is very risky and dangerous for car users and themselves. Manchester council use cop out clauses protect children who are carrying out anti- social behaviour using sport as an excuse. There is nothing normal about some bad children's behaviour. Some parents are just lazy and couldn't care less what their child does, as long as it isn't in their house. There are many places for a child to play sport for little as 50p per day. Some goto youth zones having hours of fun. All the child needs is pointing in the right direction. There are not as many famous footballers and sport people getting to the top by playing on street walls, that is clear. How many footballers from the rest of the World are playing for British clubs at millions of pounds expense of the fans. Face it, football is a big money earner to the clubs, let them stop buying so many foriegn players and give some money back to local areas by support young British upper coming players with better training facilities for all to goto. Children wouldn't have to play in the streets if they have somewhere local to go. blaim the parents for the child's bad behaviour not the child.

Sick Of Kids and Bad 22/08/2014 at 1:37 am

When I moved in a few years back my street was nice and quiet. The problems stated about 18 months ago when a family known to the police moved in and hell broke loose from late night parties to kids throwing stones and using my car as a goal. I spoke to the parents and got 'They're just kids' Next I know rat-a-tat ginger and again the parents just said 'I did that when I was a kid' like it's a badge of honour. It's taken over a year and numerous police visits but nothing has improved. The kids have got noisier and they just point at my house everytime they go past. The police are starting to take note but they come out like 2 hours after I call them once the nuisance had stopped. I'm at my wits end! Mouthy kids and ignorant parents who kick them out from early morning to late night. I've read up on behaviour orders but because the other neighbours see what I get they're afraid and won't go to the police. But the police keep saying they need to call. It's a no win situation.

ProblemNeighbours Editor 30/07/2014 at 11:15 am

@hadenough. No if you live next to a playing field, this is realistically what you can expect to hear. It does sound like the children are simply enjoying good, outdoor fun. If there is some kind of protection on the trees which means they should not be climbed or played around, you could take action to get that stopped.

hadenough 29/07/2014 at 4:51 pm

we live backing onto a playing field, there is a stand of trees to shield our houses, the local children from the large estate behind us have made camp in the bushes and trees and spend all day screaming and shouting so we can get no joy from sitting outside in the garden, is there anything we can do, or is it a case of moving house ?

ProblemNeighbours Editor 29/07/2014 at 10:13 am

@tracy. This is quite a common situation, it's awful for you and there's not much you can do if the police are not being helpful. Is there any actual damage being done? If so you should definitely report this back to the police. Similarly if it goes on late into the night, the noise alone may warrant action. Is it that there is nowhere else for the children to play? Do you know who the parents/grandparents are? They probably don't realise how badly it's affecting you...perhaps you could write a diary noting how severe the noise is, the number of times you have to go and collect footballs etc. Then maybe arrange to meet them for coffee and show them your diary. Worth a try? If it doesn't work, then you still have the diary to present to the police if it gets worse. If it's a council estate, the housing team may be able to help you as well. Good luck.

Tracy 28/07/2014 at 7:49 am

I have been at the same property for 10 year I live on an end of terrace, first year it was fine, after that had kids from neighbourhood and surrounding areas kicking football's up my wall and throwing rocks at house, used to go out and ask them to stop but they just carried on. Tried talking to parents and all I had was they are only kids! Anyway got police involved and then it would quieten down for a few day, but then start again. This went on for years until some of them grew up and slowly stopped. Now its all started up again with younger kids who have moved into neighbourhood and other people's grandchildren that visit, deliberately kicking football into garden on a daily basis and I'm expected to run out and keep getting it back for them. My fence and house also having ball kicked at it constantly, if you bo and say anything they just get older youths in neighbourhood out to join in with it! Parents dont want to know if you say anything and I'm at the end of my tether. I want to sellmy house but who would buy it with this going on, even if you call police not a lot of notice is taken, kids think its a badge of honour. Sick of it and its making me ill.

Handyandy 20/06/2014 at 5:02 pm

I have a similar problem to Minijen, we have a family living next door to us who rent their house through a private landlord. Had verbal abuse from both the adults and the kids from day one!! God only knows what we did to provoke them, I still can't figure it out! One of the little horrors, ahem, I mean kids, threw a bike wheel at my car, narrowly missing my son. I went round to remonstrate with parents and kids - I was the one at fault!! Seems that they are allowed to hurl missiles. Complained to landlord - no joy there either, his attitude being 'don't care what they do as long as I get the rent' Following this, had increased hassle to the point where I called my local community beat officer. They were very good, spoke to family, but told me off the record that 'they despair of these families' Still have trouble with them, not as frequently, but they bring in their family and mates to join in the harassment!!

ProblemNeighbours 19/06/2014 at 10:03 am

Minijen. It's certainly a difficult situation - people seem to expect varying levels/standards of behaviour from their children (or in this case grandchildren). It may be worth talking to the police - they may be able to find out which schools the children attend and advise some kind of education on what is acceptable or not or they may be able to point you towards local community groups who could perhaps get them involved in something more creative than breaking fences and bottles. Appreciate that this is an unlikely solution and maybe involves a lot of uncalled for effort on your part, but worth a try??

Minijen 18/06/2014 at 3:49 pm

I totally agree with the comments below. My observation is that is comes from bad parents. My experience comes from having two sets of neighbours that look after grandchildren on a daily basis. There is no respect shown to anyone - bad behaviour is never corrected and there are few consequences. When we have had to complain about the kids breaking our fences, smashing our plants, swearing and throwing broken bottles at us, we get the standard answer "they are only kids" That answers everything!! These people both rent and don't give a stuff about the environment they live in. Trouble is, neither does the landlord! I get the impression that anything goes as far as anti social behaviour - most of these kids are under 12 - god only knows what will happen when they are teens! Kids have no respect, parents have no respect and neither do grandparents, there is a chain of irresponsibility and I live next door to it!

offended 2014 17/06/2014 at 5:50 pm

We have issues with kids that dont live on our street visiting kids that do and they are abusive, smoking, drinking you name it. Its horrendous here it was a lovely place just a short year ago and a pleasure to be but that has now gone.
recently another group vandalised somewhere and now we have kids on front smashing something up. but we cant do anything either.

malc 02/10/2013 at 9:21 am

hi i am sick of it, what ever happened to the words respect ive had kids that were very bad at some parts of there child hood, but they all ways had respect for the older people, why all ways in a community do you all ways have kids that hassle old people knock on there doors kick balls at them and intimidate them buy running round there cars, and per-rants just letting them get away with it, every one will get old one day and when the shoe is on the other foot they might understand what others have to go though i need to move as its the only way to get peace, people might say another moaner but no, why should we put up with it yes we are in another generation from them, but by god, growing up in the 60s 70s was a re-leaf to now, some people will agree with this and some will not, i was brought up with values, all so would these children treat there own grandparents this way, dont think so good luck to all the people having to put up with this

trina 14/06/2012 at 6:07 pm

I've had to put up with neighbours kids antisocial behaviour for the past 6 months, with a football constantly being kicked at my gate and wall all hours of the day and night, When I tried to speak to the parents all I got was children need to play and she even egged them on with one of her many male friends who were laughing and swearing and intimidating me and my two young children while they were engaging in this antisocial behaviour, I had to deal with their mother on my doorstep shouting her mouth of at me in the middle of the street. I spoke to housing association I am with about the problem all I got was that the neighbour said it was me that shouted off at me, I eventually had enough and got the police involved I have only been in this house 8 months, soon after the police were involved I got the go ahead for an exchange because of the problems, I only have to wait 3 more days before I move into a new property, so I'm afraid like most have said the only way to stem antisocial behaviour is by moving I am so glad I am out of here, but also good to know I am not the only one going through this situation.

cannonball 19/03/2012 at 8:28 pm

My problem is my neighbours feeds seagulls at 6-0 am everyday and wake us up with noise and the seagulls mess every where even over grandchild toys what can we do? our trust house don't wont to know.

Ab 04/10/2011 at 3:04 pm

I live in a town. My wife and I bought a house 4 years ago. There's a group of kids that play football at the back. They broke things in our garden, climb fences and get rude. Parents are worst than them. When we told them about their kids, they shouted at us saying "kids have to play". They also argued when we decided to not return one ball until they paid what they had broken. Every day they throw the ball over in our property. I can't stay in my garden as they can hit me or my baby with the ball. My wife has been attacked and insulted twice by the parents. The police knows but can't do anything as they're kids. The council knows. The local MP knows. Nobody can't be bothered to help us. It's a nightmare for us. We will move. If you have these kind of problems, this is the only solution, I'm afraid. I'm not going to mention the place because I want to sell it.

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