COMPLAINTS about noisy, abusive teenagers have prompted police to take action in a Wiltshire village.

Residents in Holt, near Melksham, have been angered by car-driving teenagers congregating in the village hall car park.

In recent months, complaints over rubbish, loud music, criminal damage and abuse have all been made to the parish council.

Police officers from Melksham have been called in to help ease the problem, attending the last two parish council meetings to come up with a solution.

Issuing fixed penalty notices to car drivers and carrying out more patrols in the village are among the ideas that have been suggested during the meetings.

Parish council chairman John Palmer said the car-driving youths have become a nuisance to residents.

He said: "Like many villages we have a problem with youths who vandalise. There is a lot of unhappiness with lads from Trowbridge coming to Holt and causing a nuisance.

"The play areas have had a fair old whacking by vandals. The police are well aware there is a problem.

"There is a young persons support group in the village and they are leading the way forward.

"Young people have the right to sit and hang-out so we need to find some sort of a compromise by giving them more things to do in the village.

"We may look at increasing the youth centre opening hours."

Insp Neil Bagnall, of Melksham Police, said traffic patrols had worked for a while but more methods of discouraging the youths were being implemented.

He said: "We have been discussing the situation with the parish council.

"We do not want to see the problems escalating into something more serious."