Terrified residents claim teenage gangsters - some as young as 12 - are demanding protection money on a Bradford estate which locals have nicknamed "Little Beirut".

The teenagers who boast they "run" Bankfoot are believed to be responsible for a spate of violent attacks, intimidation and vandalism.

One woman, who was too scared to be named, said young yobs demanded she pay £20 to stop her car being set on fire.

She refused to pay and later her husband was attacked and her daughter threatened.

Windows of her car were also smashed and missiles thrown at her home.

The couple now intend to put the house, where they have lived for five-and-a-half years, up for sale.

She said: "These gangs run Bankfoot and if we stand against them we will be maimed or injured.

"My neighbours have also been asked for money and these thugs have told us they want us out.".

Neighbourhood Watch co-ordinator Ray Newman said the small estate had become overrun with gangs of drunken youths who cruise its streets in stolen cars terrorising residents.

He claimed his neighbours had been abused and assaulted and many were too afraid to report crimes to the police.

"People will not leave their homes at night through fear. These people march through the estate in the early hours of the morning waking everyone up shouting 'whose window shall we put through tonight?'.

"More and more people want to move away because they are scared."

Billy Todd, 62, of Chellow Street, said his home is regularly targeted by the thugs.

His windows have been put through six times and he has been abused in the street.

"They are outside my home at all hours of the night, I don't know what to do about them," he said.

John Brett, 59, who delivers papers on the estate, also claims to have been assaulted by a gang of teenagers.

"They jumped me from behind, punched me and threw me in some bushes. I had cuts all over my face," he said.

Bradford Council issued 37 anti-social behaviour warnings last October to people believed to be causing a nuisance in the area. A Council spokesman said she believed five people, along with their friends, are still involved in the troubles.

Residents on the estate yesterday held an emergency meeting in an attempt to take back their estate from the hooligans.

Afterwards Gerry Sutcliffe, MP for Bradford South, said: "People shouldn't have to live in situations where they are afraid to leave their homes.

"The community has got to stick together and hopefully we can get some quick results."

At the meeting, which was attended by around 70 residents, calls were made for alleys in the area to be closed off.

Pleas for curfew orders to be imposed were also made.

Bernard Wade, of the Fighting Crime Partnership for Bradford South, said he hoped that many of the "snickets" which residents described as "rabbit warrens for villains" would be shut off by Christmas.

Before the meeting Jez Lester, head of housing, strategy and support at Bradford Council said most of the problems were being caused by drunken 12 to 19-year-olds.

She said that none of the people causing trouble were Council house tenants and urged residents to come forward with evidence which would stand up on court.

"Residents on this estate are reluctant to give evidence because they fear they will be targeted," she said.

PC Nick Mosey, a community safety officer with Bradford South police, said that officers were working with the Council with a view to imposing anti-social behaviour notices.