GANGS of up to 30 teenagers are terrorising shopkeepers and customers in the centre of Didcot after dark — prompting calls for more police presence.

Traders in Broadway said they were fed up with the problems – but police officers said they were not aware of any antisocial behaviour in the area.

Michael Llamas, 30, owner of Lebanese wine bar Salinas, recently began opening in the evenings.

Last week, he claimed he saw a drunk seven-year-old being carried away by his friends.

He said: “In the evening, no one cares about the kids.

“Some of them are nine or 10 years old and clearly on drugs, you can tell from their eyes. It is out of order. They sit outside the shop and it means my customers cannot sit outside.

“The other day one of the kids took his trousers down in front of a customer.

“Customers don’t want to come in when the kids are smoking and drinking and shouting and screaming. “Sometimes it’s 15 or 20, sometimes it’s up to 30.

“I have a cafe in Abingdon and we don’t have these problems.”

Kirsty Woodley, manager of Blockbuster, said her customers and staff had been threatened by large groups of teenagers.

She said: “They come in and knock shelves down and abuse customers. When it was snowing they were throwing gritty snowballs into the shop.

“It is putting people off coming in.

“One woman was too scared to get out of her car and drop her DVD into the drop box.”

She added: “A couple of the girls won’t work on their own anymore because they feel intimidated.

“They are just bored, they need somewhere to go.”

Clare Redford, manager of Subway, said: “We had a window smashed two weeks ago.

“The whole window went in and he (the child) fell through it. It’s cost about £16,000 to repair.”

Supt Amanda Pearson, of Didcot police, said she was not aware of any problems in Broadway.

She added: “We are constantly working towards meeting the priorities of local residents, including levels antisocial behaviour, but for us to be able to do this we need the community to let us know.”

didcot@oxfordmail.co.uk