YOB rule. There is no other term for it. A handful of yobs are in charge of Chapelfields.

And unless the forces of law and order hit back quickly and hard, the yobs' grip on this neighbourhood will tighten to strangulation point.

It is the yobs who now decide where buses will run. First buses have been rerouted after three were pelted with heavy stones and tools.

The perpetrators could easily have killed or maimed those inside. That does not matter to morons who care only about their status as the strutting gang leaders of the streets.

Their weapon is fear. Although residents know who they are, investigators said yesterday they had met a "wall of silence". First is now offering a £100 reward for information.

Unless order is restored, a life may be lost. Arsonists who destroyed the derelict Chapelfields Community Centre in March could easily have killed someone, firefighters said.

Buses have been vandalised regularly and drivers were twice held at knifepoint in Chapelfields last year.

The law-abiding people of Chapefields are suffering again at the hands of a few thugs as the buses are re-routed to avoid them.

This cannot go on. It is time to reclaim the streets.

That will not happen by relying on terrified residents to point the finger at the yobs.

The police should undertake an active campaign with First to bring the yobs to justice, riding shotgun on night buses if necessary

Then the courts must sentence the yobs properly. A teenager who took part in a knifepoint robbery on a bus driver in Chapelfields a year ago was given just 80 hours community punishment.

No wonder they think they are untouchable.

Updated: 10:16 Thursday, May 13, 2004