Pensioners living in fear are being forced to quit their homes at a Keighley sheltered housing complex.

In the latest of a long series of incidents a shot was fired at the double-glazed bedroom window of a 71-year-old man.

The man has also had to replace windscreen wipers and mirrors on his car after they were ripped off.

A 60-year-old woman was verbally abused after she complained to the youths about them playing in the gardens of the complex.

The Keighley News has agreed not to identify the complex because the residents feared reprisals. But they now say they have had enough and are seeking alternative housing.

One couple are moving to council accommodation elsewhere in the district at the end of the month. At least five others have applied to be rehoused.

One elderly woman resident says it is impossible to sleep at night. "They are banging on the windows or they park their cars outside the houses and play loud music," she says. "They are forcing us out of our homes."

The residents say they have given up reporting the incidents to the police and the housing association because 'they never do anything'.

The housing association recently put up signs saying closed-circuit television is in operation in the complex, though residents say there are no cameras there. They say they have been told there is no money in the association's 'kitty' to provide them.

Another woman pensioner says: "You can't even go into your kitchen to make a cup of tea because they are looking in through the windows all the time. Everyone is a bag of nerves."

A 60-year-old woman, who has suffered four strokes in recent years, says: "We retired to these properties thinking we were going to spend the rest of our lives here. But now we can't wait to get away. It's frightening."

Residents also say they have seen money and packages being exchanged in the quiet gardens of the complex, which is a private area and has no public thoroughfare.

One man pensioner has already moved out. He was charged £130 by the housing association which runs the complex to remove carpets he had left. He believed he would have been doing the next tenant a favour by leaving them.

This week the association's Keighley manager told us: "We are aware of ongoing complaints from a number of our tenants, many of them elderly, that they have been subjected to vandalism. We are working actively with the police to try and address these problems.

"Our main problem is that the housing complex is bordered by a densely populated residential area with no recreational facilities. Because the complex has a car park and a grassed area in front of it, it becomes a meeting place for gangs of local youths.

"I am aware of three recent terminations of contracts. If tenants leave any furnishings, in their homes when they depart it is standard policy to charge them for their removal."

Keighley police Inspector Mick Hopwood says investigations are taking place. "Comm-unity safety is a priority and nuisance from gangs of youths is something that we take very seriously," he says. "We are taking steps to deal with the situation."

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