Members of a teenage gang who held a community in the grip of fear today said sorry to the victims of their violence.

Dean Surtees, 18, and Daniel Dalby, 13, were among a gang who terrified pensioners, children, asylum seekers, and other vulnerable people in Bolton Woods, Bradford.

Today the boys spoke out with the backing of their parents to admit that their 11-strong group was involved in a catalogue of incidents including pelting homes with eggs, vandalism, racist attacks, verbal and physical assaults, and burning cars.

But now the youngsters - most of whom are threatened with anti-social behaviour orders - are being helped by youth workers who want to turn them away from a life of crime.

Carol Woodley and Anji Dibb are running special sessions at Bolton Woods Community Centre for the group, aged 11 to 18, where they discuss the consequences of their behaviour.

And Dean and Daniel said the New Start sessions have helped them understand the terror local people have been living in.

"We used to get up to all sorts, like vandalism, graffiti, and hassling the Kosovans," admitted Daniel. "I just got encouraged to do it by my mates. I thought well what's going to happen if I throw an egg at a window? Who's going to suffer?"

Daniel said that the gang had never intended to hurt anyone, but accepted vulnerable residents had been terrified.

"Some people may have been upset by what we did," he said. "They might have been frightened to come out of their homes. But when we did things like that, it didn't seem wrong, even if afterwards we realised that we shouldn't have done it.

"Now if we get into any trouble, Carol and Anji would know straight away. If we were burning a car, I might still get a buzz , but I would know that when I came here I would suffer. Now I can see that doing something like that is wrong."

Daniel said he regretted getting involved in the trouble and wanted to move on.

"I caused people problems and I wouldn't like it if someone did that to me," he said. "If people have got children or they are old and they see us being abusive and throwing stuff at their windows, it does affect them."

Dean - who is about to join the Bradford Motor Project, a training scheme for young offenders - agreed the lack of facilities needed addressing for the sake of future generations.

"It's so boring round here, everyone's just looking for something to do," he said.

"What we got up to was just being a part of the gang. We'd get drunk and hang around on street corners. If there was someone walking along the street we'd take the mickey, shout at them and get a bit abusive.

"Now we can come to the centre, sit around and have a chat about what we've been doing during the week and - if we've done anything bad - we'll own up to it."

Mrs Woodley said there have been no reports of trouble involving the youths since the start of November.

"There has been a noted improvement in their behaviour, and that has been noticed by external groups," she said. "I think they are beginning to recognise that, with our support, they can go forward and they have a positive future - but they cannot expect it to be done for them.

"We make them deal with the issues and understand the consequences of their actions to the victims and to themselves in the long term. We also set them small goals which are achievable."

The youth workers have daily contact with the youngsters as well as holding twice-weekly sessions at the community centre.

"A lot of them now put themselves on curfews to avoid problems," explained Mrs Woodley. "We've got the means to get things happening for them if they are prepared to work for it, but some of them have been so let down in the past that it takes time to gain their trust."

PC Steve Middleton, of the Bingley-based Problem Orientated Police team, said he believed the work being undertaken with the youths was a "step in the right direction".

"I think it is excellent," he said. "At the moment things are much quieter down there and hopefully it will continue, because things had been very bad and it was causing a lot of heartache.

"There has been a multi-agency approach and it seems to be working. This scheme has had a noticable effect in the sense that we are no longer getting many complaints coming in.

"I hope these boys maintain this attitude because everyone will benefit from it, including themselves."