RESIDENTS in North Swindon have slammed Wiltshire Police for being “inept” and “incompetent”.

Police and crime commissioner for Wiltshire and Swindon, Angus Macpherson, was grilled by councillors in Haydon Wick on Tuesday night as the parish’s anti-social behaviour problems show no sign of abating.

Councillors demanded answers from the commissioner on a number of issues, including a shortage of officers on patrol, the apparent unwillingness of the police to investigate crimes and the possibility that residents will have to start forming their own “non-vigilante groups” to counter the regular appearance of hostile teenage gangs.

A combative Coun Damon Bower told the commissioner that North Swindon does not get its fair share of police attention.

He said: “We have major issues with anti-social behaviour, drug taking and minor vandalism.

“It has got to the point now where the residents in North Swindon have quite blatantly had enough and are now setting up their own groups – not vigilantes – but groups that are going out patrolling the areas because they are feeling that the police are inept and incompetent.

“People are feeling vulnerable because their children are getting scared. Their children can’t go to the parks in the evenings because the parks are overrun with teenagers.”

Coun Bower and others claimed that gangs of youths routinely come into the parish from Penhill and Parks and vandalise public and private property.

In recent months, the parish council has had to fork out considerable sums of money on private security firms to patrol the parks because so little faith is placed in the police.

In 2015/16, private security set them back £4,878. The projected final spend for 2017/18 is £6,500.

Addressing the commissioner, Coun Bower added: “Residents are gearing themselves up with cameras. They shouldn’t be needing to do this – that’s your job, not theirs.”

The most savage rebuke of the night came from Coun Phil Eagle, who asked Mr Macpherson: “Sir, do you ever wake up in the small hours and wonder if your job is a waste of time?”

Mr Macpherson responded: “I don’t think the job is a waste of time because someone’s got to do it.”

Addressing the concerns raised by Coun Bower, the commissioner said that his hands were tied as there is simply no money from central government.

He said: “It needs to be recognised that austerity has forced us to reduce the number of officers across the force.

“Home Office figures show that Wiltshire Police had 1,245 officers in 2005, whereas the current figure is 936. We have had lost 20 per cent of our budget, but have managed to limit the reduction of frontline policing to ten per cent.”