Residents in Barrow Bridge have been left disturbed by a gang of anti-social youths taking drugs, leaving litter, and damaging property.

This culminated at around 9.30pm on Saturday night with a large group of young people gathered to consume large amounts of nitrous oxide, commonly known as ‘laughing gas’ and drive dangerously into the early hours of Sunday morning.

Cars were being raced up Barrow Bridge Road, with one car smashing into a 20mph sign in Moss Bank Park, leaving debris behind.

Up to 13 large canisters of nitrous oxide gas were found discarded in the car park the next morning, along with a large amount of discarded party balloons, suggesting youths had been inhaling the gas through the balloons.

One resident said: “When you’re trying to relax, you’re woken to see them racing around as if they’re on a racetrack. The sound of the crash that happened was terrible and I don’t know how someone couldn’t have been injured. All we want as residents is a peaceful existence.”

Cllr Roger Hayes said: “Both the police and the council haven’t been able to do the things they want to do, as they have been overstretched during the pandemic.

“We are struggling to find the resources, but I’m trying to find a solution to this issue.”

Another resident added: “The car park seems to attract this type of behaviour in the evenings and, despite how many times we have implored the council to lock the gate overnight, our requests have fallen on deaf ears.

“We have even offered to lock the gate ourselves to discourage youths from gathering there and causing such anti-social and dangerous behaviour, but they simply won’t listen to us.

“It’s like they don’t want to know, or don’t understand, how dangerous it is.

“We do not feel safe.”

Residents say they have long suffered from anti-social behaviour from the car park being left open as a prime gathering spot for drug users and anti-social behaviour due to its quiet location off the main road.

Another resident said: “It’s such a shame to see parents arriving to bring their children for a nice day in the park and having to step over this amount of litter and discarded drug paraphernalia.

“It doesn’t make Bolton look like a very safe place to live.”

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