Probably need something more beefy than a phone to be effective outdoors - thinking a large speaker and amplifier! You can test it on the kids for effectiveness

Interestingly I can hear even the highest frequency tone and I'm the wrong side of 30....

And, of course, this is the stuff that doesn't show up on the crime stats.

Thank you Brian. I know that the reality is that we will probably have to put up and shut up but it is so depressing, our friends left early upset that their car had been done over and in truth it was a night of laughter and tears anyway as we always spend our holidays with them and it is feeling like the end of an era (of course we will go to theirs plenty until we go but this was their last time at ours). We had gone to so much effort all of us, with gifts and a five course dinner and so on and it was all ruined by these thugs.

I'm hopeful that the police will help us with the mosquito device, I'm sure they said there was a roaming one. In the meantime we are downloading the ringtone as suggested by G77 as a starting point so feel just a little happier although still too unsettled to go to bed.

A few years ago in a mall in Toronto there was a problem with young groups of people hanging around in what some thought was a threatening manner. The mall management began playing classical music and apparently had some success in moving the youngsters out. I've read nothing since about such problems in that particular mall. Perhaps your husband could rig up a speaker to do something similar although the neighbours may not appreciate such an action or on the other hand they may welcome it.

I have rung the police every night for two weeks and not one of my calls has been recorded. Learnt tonight that I have to ask for a crime number as they have to put it on to the system then to generate a number. If you don't ask for a crime number the call isn't recorded!!

Was also told not to ring that line as they no longer deal with anti social behaviour calls!!

Funnily enough the people that do the mosquito thing also have one that plays classical music, but that may upset our neighbours more.

I'm think you are right! I think we need to work out how to take that noise and amplify it. Our friends that were here tonight will probably know as he is a bit of an anorak deep down and loves his boys toys!!

Oh great fun, I just tested all of the ring tones and can't hear any of them including the one everyone should be able to hear.

As I was testing it, I didn't tell my husband and he really heard it and it hurt his ears

So glad it worked on him because I wouldn't know any difference! Too many years spent clubbing I might add, I've done my hearing right in and have bells in the bellfry at the best of times!

It works it works it works!!!!

I just managed to download it to the iphone (as a podcast not a ring tone) and my husband went outside and could hear it if I opened our bathroom window upstairs. He even went across the road and he could still hear it there.

I am so delighted I just hope it works, thank you so very much.

I believe it is a really horrid noise as well. Apparently it builds and builds and builds and he was really in agony after a few minutes of me playing it.

Now lets just hope it works with these thugs too. We will ring the whole damn house up if I have to!

And it hasn't cost us £500!!!

Just be wary they don't shoot you with an air pistol or worse when doing it!

Oh don't!!

I intend to hide it, the great thing about the iPhone is it lies flat, we often have the upstairs window open (if you lived with my husband you'd know why), so if I lie it flat on the window cill they won't know where the sound is coming from.

I just need to find some ear muffs for my own pre-teen kids as they were flapping around in their beds just now when I was up there so it must have been disturbing their sleep.

Will go and get them ear plugs tomorrow.

I'm sorry you feel 'highly insulted' but am completely at a loss as to where in this thread I have said or implied you are exaggerating, where I have demeaned your situation or where I have not validated your concerns?

Please re-read my posts, taking particular note of the following sentence in my first post:

"Tinytears, sorry to hear you've had such an awful time. Must be terrifying for you."

Then please note all the times I have made it very clear that I am *only* referring to where I live and to my experiences, and to where I have acknowledged that the problems you describe *do* exist in other areas in the UK, but that I am lucky enough to live in one of the many areas that aren't affected.

I'm beginning to wonder if I'm in some bizarre parallel universe where I write one thing but something else comes up on your computer screen!! Just because I've had different experiences from you, and have shared them, does not mean for a moment that I am belittling your experience, and you have nothing but my sympathy. I thought I'd made that clear and also made it clear that I have only been talking about where I live but obviously not!

Have you contacted your MP, local council about all this??

Yes, they are supposed to be coming her to spend a Friday evening in the new year but we will see whether they actually do or not.

They promised that something was being done and we would see a huge improvement within two weeks - that was a week and a half ago and since they said it the situation has deteriorated beyond belief.

Oh, my, god ........ I SO can't believe you just said that ~ I'm from Bed'sinister!!'~