By David Green TEENAGE yobs have terrorised an 80-year-old Bolton widow so much she says she is now too scared to leave her own home.

She says she has called the police more than 15 times since the harassment began last year.

On one occasion the gang pushed burning matches through the letterbox of her Hunger Hill semi-detached home and on another threw eggs at her window.

The partially-sighted ME sufferer has lived on her own since her husband died last November and says she is now at the end of her tether. "I am terrified of them, I can't go out and I just want them to leave me alone," she said. "I called the police four times in one week. They are doing their best but have not been able to catch them," she added.

The pensioner, who is too scared to be named for fear of reprisals, has found the youths trespassing on her back garden in the middle of the night.

Youths have also wrecked her garden fence by repeatedly kicking footballs against it but they have ignored requests from the widow and her children to stop.

"I can't afford to move from here and I don't want to move anyway," she said.

"I have no idea why they are picking on me."

Kath Bradley, from Bolton Victim Support, said the woman had phoned them on a number of occasions in the past year.

"It is absolutely dreadful, we have sent her a personal alarm and a volunteer but it comes down to youths having nothing to do, which is another problem altogether," she said.

She added that anyone suffering similar problems should ring Victim Support on 01204 388915.

Sergeant James Winward, from Astley Bridge police, said officers had been called out to the address four times since November.

He added that they were aware of a possible ongoing problem with youths in that area.