THIS week's page one story "Police ask: where are your kids?" begs the question that many of us have been asking for ages – namely, where are the police? The spree of vandalism is not the first to take place in Coleford – other Forest towns and villages have likewise suffered – but protests of petty crime and rowdyism by central residents to the police have been to no avail.

The intrepid Pc Dix, whose title I understand to be that of Community Policeman, states that the police are aware of the problem, which begs the next question – why have they done nothing? But wait! He goes on '[the police] had started an action plan to deal with it.' No doubt the plan is a cunning one, but scant consolation to Mike Rees and Mike Lewis who have had their businesses trashed, or to Coleford's central residents whose peace has been continually disturbed.

Members of the public including myself have said till we are blue in the face that proper organised police patrols would prevent these gangs from congregating and would send them on their way before they could perpetrate any damage. As for writing to parents (maybe that is) that would be as useless and ineffective as issuing a formal caution.

One would have thought that Pc Dix and some of his colleagues would have been in this area long enough to identify not only the trouble spots but also the trouble-makers. – Cy Roberts, Coalway.