RESIDENTS sick of drug addicts and drunks blighting their neighbourhoods are fighting back by warning offenders: "You are being watched"

People living in Gladstone Road West in Boscombe are so fed up with people taking drugs near family homes they have tied signs to lampposts and warned they will alert police.

Those living in the cul-de-sac said groups gather near the Palmerston Road end of their road in the evenings, leaving people scared for the safety of their families.

They have taken action just weeks after residents in Charminster warned that "the drunks and drug dealers are winning."

A father of two young children told the Daily Echo his garden is regularly used as a toilet and for drug taking and added: "My wife makes sure she is home before 4pm in the winter months because she doesn't feel safe.

"Every week there are people doing or dealing drugs, getting drunk, and if they aren't shouting at the top of their voices or fighting, they are dumping food and wrappers on the floor."

In Boscombe council officials have already cleared a number of trees from the Gladstone Road West to try and solve the problem.

Signs now placed outside two properties read: "The residents of this road have a zero drug tolerance policy. You are being watched."

One resident, who spoke on the condition that he wasn't named, said people take drugs openly in the street and added: "In the evenings it can get a bit nerve-wracking because people do gather in groups.

"Lots of people here keep their curtains closed and doors locked. It's a nice road and the neighbours are friendly. It's a shame we have to put up with this."

Between September and December 2016 - the most recent months available for analysis - police were called to the road 17 times, mainly in response to reports of anti-social behaviour.

Boscombe councillor Phil Stanley-Watts said the issue is "unacceptable".

"I've been to a number of residents' meetings, along with the two other ward councillors," he said. "Drug abuse seems to be everywhere at the moment - not just in Boscombe but elsewhere too.

"Drug taking shouldn't be tolerated and we need to get any resident who hears or sees anything to report it to the police. I think we should have zero tolerance to this kind of behaviour, especially if it's impacting on residents.

"I've always been completely anti-drugs. People who do take drugs are going to have a huge impact on their health."