GANGS of yobs have forced council bosses to consider erecting 8ft high security fencing around an old people's home.

Elderly residents living at Thicketford House, on Thicketford Road, Tonge Moor will be surrounded by a metal fence in a last-ditch attempt to protect them from unruly youths who are making their lives a misery.

Residents have been tormented by the gang, who congregate at the back of the home to drink, act rowdily jumping over a wall to run into the grounds of the home and even throw bottles at passing cars.

Bolton Council has received complaints from residents of the home and pedestrians about their behaviour and, in a bid to solve the problem, has applied for planning permission to erect the fence.

Cllr Frank White, who is a Tonge Ward councillor and is Bolton Council's executive member for social inclusion and community safety, said the council had been working closely with the home to overcome the problems.

He said: "Unfortunately there is a group of young people who hang around the home and Ainsworth Lane area, particularly the off-licence.

"We know they are buying the alcohol and then going around the back of the old people's home to consume it.

"This fence is a measure to try and make the home more secure. It is a pity we have to do this because, in parts, it looks like it has to be protected from the community, rather than the community wanting to protect them."

Cllr White blamed much of the problem on the youths' parents.

"Parents in the vicinity of the home should start to show a greater degree of responsibility and interest as to where their children are at night and what they are doing," he said.

"When they come in all bleary-eyed, it is because of the alcohol in their blood."

Owner of Premier Wines Ltd on Thicketford Road, Kantilal Mepani, said he has a difficult job stopping the youths getting alcohol.

He said: "They get adults to buy the alcohol for them and it is difficult to keep track. Police have put cameras up but that doesn't stop them. It seems to be their regular meeting place. They even throw their empty bottles at passing cars."

A planning application for the fence will go to the next planning meeting.