A POOLE housing estate is being plagued by vandalism and in urgent need of a long-promised £1.8million regeneration, according to the local councillor.

The estate at Upton, which mostly owned by the Purbeck Housing Trust, has had periodic problems with car vandalism for years, said Upton Councillor Fred Drane.

"It's been going on for four or even five years now off and on. It seems to comes in spurts," he added.

Cllr Drane, a former member of the Purbeck Housing Trust board, said he was pushing hard for a planned £1.8million regeneration, which he said had been stalled for years.

As well as providing CCTV across the estate it would create a new play areas, refurbish the garages, and improve lighting and traffic calming measures.

"The sooner the CCTV comes and the sooner we get the regeneration the better," added Cllr Drane.

For one resident, who asked not to be named for fear reprisals, the CCTV cannot come soon enough.

Her car was targeted twice - marked with deep scratches up to 30cm long at the beginning of November, and again on the last weekend of the month.

"You get up in the morning and you don't know what state your car is going to be in," she added. "We're thinking about paying for camera ourselves. We go out in the evenings ourselves to have a look out - we don't know what else to do."

Dorset police confirmed they had attended two incidents of criminal damage on the same car and that such crimes had increased.

A spokesman added: "There have been several incidents of criminal damage on the Upton Heath Estate over the past couple of months. We have increased patrols by the Safer Neighbourhood Team and the Police Community Support Officers as a result."

Purbeck Housing Trust said contractors Dean and Dyball Civil Engineering will start work on the regeneration in January.