Boys and girls as young as 13 are attacking adults but police are struggling to catch them as many of their victims are too ashamed to report it.

The gang is terrorising people from their own age up to their 40s in south Swindon and as well as assaults they leave a trail of damage and destruction.

The most recent incident on Friday night saw them smash the back window of a black cab by hurling a traffic cone through it.

The police met Swindon Council's crime and disorder team yesterday to discuss how to tackle the gang and Old Town community beat manager PC Tim North says there is a problem with a lack of CCTV in the area.

"We suspect they are a group of people who are roaming the area, predominantly on Friday evenings, obtaining alcohol from wherever they can and once they have got their Dutch courage they are getting up to trouble like Friday's incident, which was down to being loud in the streets and areas in between," PC North said.

The group has been seen in Old Walcot, Lawn and parts of Old Town including Newport Street and High Street.

"We are obviously keen to get to grips with them and find out as much as we can," PC North said. "One of the issues is identifying those involved.

"There are a few areas in Old Town that are covered by CCTV but a lot of it isn't. They are quite often in a large group of 15 to 20 people so to attribute individual actions to any of them is quite difficult but they are a group that we are aware of and looking to get to grips with any which way."

The group has been known to attack men in their 40s and police say there are likely to be some victims who are too embarrassed to come forward.

"If it's not reported we don't know it's happened," PC North said. "We are aware of some of it and undoubtedly there is a lot more that doesn't get reported to us.

"We encourage people to report stuff even if it's at the low end, where they are moving through an area being unpleasant.

"Quite often we don't find out where they are until something more substantial has happened, like vehicle damage, a wall kicked over or somebody is assaulted."

Police say if they are told about the group early on in the evening they can get to them and nip it in the bud before they get out of hand.

The gang's ages range from 13 up to 19. PC North said: "There are those that are old enough to buy drink among the group which is one of the problems.

"They are sourcing their drink from anywhere and everywhere. Unfortunately there's no way of knowing when they will be busy.

"They roam around and there's no way of knowing when they will pop up. This weekend we had a little bit more involvement by them."

Police say it could be the same group that have been terrorising residents in Welcombe Avenue. "Over the course of the last month there have been assaults and adults being intimidated.

"They have been low level assaults thankfully. We have had nobody seriously injured or in need of hospital treatment.

"They are not put off by the age of the potential target," PC North said. "Some of it is nuisance behaviour but then it goes up to walls being damaged, vehicles being damaged and assaults, which is totally unacceptable."