100 youths run riot in Top of the Hill over weekend

Sinn Féin Councillor Christopher Jackson said that a crowd of over 100 young people had wreaked havoc in parts of the estate.

He was speaking after some residents had to be evacuated from their home over the weekend as a result of anti-social behaviour leading to electricity connections being short-circuited.

Councillor Jackson said the problem was now proving to be a persistent headache for residents in the area.

He said: “This has been building up over the past number of weekends with large crowds of young people gathering in the vicinity of the now empty Immaculate Conception College.

“On Saturday night there was a crowd of over 100 there .Residents I have spoken to in Corrordy Road and Bards Hill have told me they were terrified in their homes with such a large crowd right on their doorsteps, with all sorts of carry on taking place.”

Colr. Jackson said that many of those gathering, in fact most of them, were arriving in from other area of Derry .

“The vast majority of those involved in the anti-community activity are not from the Waterside area,” he said.

“There was a very serious incident at an apartment block at Tamneymore Park.

“A wheelie bin was set on fire which resulted in electricity to a number of apartments being knocked out and people having to be evacuated from their homes.”

During the episode over the weekend, a number of fire appliances attended the scene.

Colr. Cooper was also in attendance.

He said: “I along with local community workers have been liaising with the PSNI to see what can be done to nip this in the bud as a matter of urgency.

“I will be meeting with the police again in the next 24 hours to try and come up with practical solutions.”