A TEENAGE gang is wreaking havoc at the rear of Falmouth's main shopping street, vandalising roofs and buildings and breaking into shops.

Matters came to a head on Saturday when the roof of the Falmouth Working Men's Club, in Bell's Court, was damaged, a concrete wall destroyed and Woolworth's in Market Street was broken into.

Police have now had to cordon off the public footpath from Bell's Court to Smithick Hill because the damaged wall blocks the route and has made access too dangerous.

The working men's club roof has only just been re-tiled following earlier damage by the same gang, while Woolworths has had to replace its fire exit doors with heavy duty security ones. W H Smith has also been targeted. The damage is costing local businesses thousands of pounds. Business owners say the gang appears to have taken over the wasteland behind the shops on Market Street. A footpath which leads up to Smithick Hill has been "tagged" with graffiti as "Stoner's Alley".

Hidden from the main street, the privately owned, weed covered wasteland is an area of vandalised, graffitti-covered buildings that have been left to rot. Old furniture, rubbish, rubble and junk litters the area.

Using this as their base the gang, with some members thought to be as young as 11, have embarked on an orgy of criminal damage and destruction over the past four months.

Justin Griffin, steward at the working men's club said things have gone from bad to worse. He says practically every weekend the youths are up on the roofs but when they are confronted they respond with abusive language and taunts.

"We have had people running over our roofs for the past six to eight weeks," he said "They put their feet through the tiles and smash them up. This weekend they've managed to push over a concrete wall and it's just resting on a metal pole, it is extremely dangerous.

"On Saturday they were up their again and have damaged the roof. We called the police and they were here within ten minutes.

"I have confronted them before and told them to get down off the roof but I am just met with a stream of abuse. They then stand on the road and sneer at us saying you can't touch us we're on a public highway' and there's nothing you can do. I can look after myself but I could imagine it would be very intimidating for some people."

He said the gang appear to be imitating the craze for roof jumping which started after the BBC aired an advert showing people roof jumping across the London skyline. He is worried that someone falling from the roofs could be injured or even killed.

Woolworth's manager of Rachel Smith says the criminal elements of the gang are a major problem with teenagers up on the roof all the time.

"We have had lots of problems with people up on the roofs," she said. "Young lads spray painting graffitti and jumping up and down. On Saturday they broke into the store by removing one of the grills. It is a major problem. We have been broken into twice and have had a number of attempted break-ins. WH Smith are having the same problem.

"When they have got in they have stolen mobile phones and entertainment and when they haven't got in they have caused a lot of damage.

"On Saturday we heard them on the roof and two of the management went up there to confront them and saw two teenagers running away. They had ripped off the grill and broken through a window into the storeroom but there was nothing in there for them to steal."

The areas has been a wastleland for many years and in the past has been a magnet for drug addicts and drunks who did deals in the dimly lit alley.

The pathway was originally reopened at the request of the then traffic warden so he could get easier access to Smithwick Hill and the drunks and druggies were driven out.

Insp Dave Scott of Falmouth police said he understood the shopkeepers concerns but ultimately it was their responsibility to install security measures to stop the offenders getting on to the roofs.

Arrests had been made on Saturday he said but he would ensure that his officers would speak to the businesses to see what other crime prevention measures could be taken. In the meantime the Police Community Support Officers would be tasked with identifying the youngsters who hang around the area and trying to sort out the problem.