RESIDENTS in Buntingford are to man barriers at Seth Ward Community Centre in a bid to crackdown on anti-social behaviour. Sandra Snapes, together with her husband Bill, and one of their neighbours in Mill Close, have offered to open the gate of the centr

RESIDENTS in Buntingford are to man barriers at Seth Ward Community Centre in a bid to crackdown on anti-social behaviour.

Sandra Snapes, together with her husband Bill, and one of their neighbours in Mill Close, have offered to open the gate of the centre at 4am and close it again at the end of the day.

Currently the barrier is left open all the time, and they hope closing it at night will stop the anti-social behaviour that has been making the lives of residents in the area a misery.

At a Buntingford Town Council meeting on Thursday, councillors agreed to implement the scheme on a trial basis for the next three months.

The council will review the situation in January.

Mrs Snapes said: "The barrier has never been in use in all the time we've lived here, something had to be done.

"We've had people driving round and round in the car park at night, and there's also the shouting and the rubbish that gets left everywhere."

The residents will have to close the barrier every night after the last group has finished using the community centre.

This will often be as late as 11pm.

"There's already been £800 damage caused in the area.

"Although it will be quite a lot of work, we need to change things for safetys sake," added Mrs Snapes.