AFTER all they have been through, it is appalling that refugees who fled war-torn Kosovo are having their lives made hell by youngsters plaguing the housing estate where they have been resettled.

Groups of children as young as 12 are attacking their homes and hurling abuse -- to such an extent that now it is the Griffin estate in Burnley that they want to be evacuated from.

As is asked in our report tonight by a spokesman for the housing company in charge of their homes, what on earth have these people done to deserve this?

It would seem they are being singled out simply for being different -- the same vile sentiment that lay behind the evil ethnic cleansing and torment that drove them out of Kosovo. But is it not repugnant and worrying to find it at work in their place of refuge in our community -- and among children so young?

Yet what is equally disturbing is that their experience is symptomatic of that on many other East Lancashire housing estates and neighbourhoods where uncontrolled youngsters are routinely making life a misery, particularly for more vulnerable groups like the elderly and those living alone who find themselves being targeted by these prowling gangs of youths. Only last night we reported how almost 200 had had their names taken by police in Oswaldtwistle alone. What is needed is more action like that taking place in that town -- where a 'juvenile referral scheme' has been set up by police to report badly-behaved youngsters to their parents and put pressure on them to conform.

It should be backed up, too, by the courts by further action against those who will not heed the warning -- by imposing behaviour orders on youngsters and making parents responsible for stopping their children from causing nuisance.

And there should be no pussyfooting by magistrates, but full 'naming and shaming' of the youngsters who are at the root of this social plague. As the extent of their curse across trouble-torn and vandalised estates in East Lancashire shows, they have been on too long a leash for too long.

But such tough measures are rendered piecemeal and futile if the offenders are free in the first place to routinely cause such mayhem and misery. The front-line assault against them must be led by a permanent police presence on these hell estates -- and by the police having the personnel and resources to provide it.