AN ANGRY pensioner is urging the council to give elderly residents protection from nuisance youngsters.

Chris Hill, 73, from Brockles Mead, Harlow, is concerned that frail pensioners living on his estate risk injuring themselves on bikes and skateboards left outside their front doors.

So he has asked Harlow Council to create front gardens, or fence in existing gardens, to act as a barrier between their homes and busy pathways.

He has also asked for steps and barriers to be erected on paths to stop youngsters using them as a "highway" for bike riding and skateboarding.

Mr Hill, who has campaigned long and hard to protect elderly Brockles Mead residents said: "We demand protection. Kids are leaving bikes outside old folk's homes, and when they step outside they are stumbling over them.

"Many old people dread the school holidays because the youngsters are running around and whizzing about on skateboards . The estate is turning into a sports stadium."

Mr Hill blamed the council for blocking off forecourts near 80 homes belonging to families, which encouraged children to play outside elderly residents' homes.

He added that the council was "ignoring" the estate's older residents, and urged fellow pensioners to write to the council to ask for protection.

A Harlow Council spokeswoman said: "We have received a large number of requests from Mr Hill which we are currently looking into.

"We have considered whether front gardens should be fenced in, but it would not resolve the problem because there would still be potential for objects to be left on the footpath."

She said the council had agreed to erect "no ball game" signs in garage areas of Brockles Mead, but said it was unlikely to place steps and barriers on pathways because these would cause further obstruction to elderly residents.

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