Stone-throwing youths are terrorising residents in the Coldside area, smashing windows and hurling abuse at young parents.
Residents living in the area around St Peter and Paul Primary School say they have been terrorised for weeks by a group of youngsters shouting, swearing and lobbing “countless” rocks.
Greig Stott, 34, claims his flat has been attacked dozens of times and reported the problems to police a few weeks ago. He is concerned one of the stones could smash a window and hurt his 17-month-old daughter.
Mr Stott, who lives with wife Patricia, 33, and daughter, said the attacks happen “almost every evening” between 7 and 11pm.
He said: “It sometimes goes on for up to an hour. A couple of times our windows have been hit also, and it is hard enough trying to get our 17-month-old baby daughter to settle and sleep at the best of times.
“They have since smashed two windows at the bottom of our block. There is already a boarded-up window in the same flat and now the one next to it is smashed to pieces.”
Mr Stott says he has asked the group to stop but to no avail and now feels “nervous” about walking the streets as he has previously suffered violence at the hands of young thugs.
The photographer and videographer was the victim of an assault causing permanent disfigurement when he was attacked by a gang of youths in Dryburgh in 2011.
And he said: “After shouting at these youths to go away, I fear I have become a target and I’m nervous about walking down the streets now.”
Police have already been to the area in a bid to clamp down on the youths, but Mr Stott wants to see more.
He said: “The council’s community safety wardens turned up once and I wouldn’t mind them patrolling more often, but obviously the police is what we want.
“I’d like to think they would put a bit of fear into these youths to discourage them from what they’re doing.”
A Police Scotland spokeswoman said: “We are aware of a number of calls over the past month regarding groups of youths involved in anti-social behaviour within the area.
“Officers routinely carry out patrols, deploy mobile CCTV and work closely with the local authority and community wardens to resolve incidents of this nature.”
Coldside councillor David Bowes said: “Mr Stott is doing the right thing by reporting the matter to the police and the community wardens.
“This is the first I have heard of it, but if Mr Stott gets in touch with me then I will do my best to assist with the problem.”