A visually impaired man living in Clagh Vane, Ballasalla, claims he is being 'plagued with kids throwing eggs at the windows and doors'.

Dave McWilliams said toys and tricycles left scattered outside his bungalow in Balthane Square and beyond meant he was worried to leave the house, fearing: 'I am going to break my neck.'

Mr Williams said: 'They play under windows and in the porches of bungalows.

'It's just getting to the point where something has got to be done. One of the gardens is littered with tin cans. There was a pram outside my back gate, I went over it.'

He said children would stand outside his house and watch his television. 'When you shut the curtains, they knock on the window or throw eggs,' he added.

'I have to go straight out, as a blind person, and clear that up.'

He added: 'People are saying: "Do we have to put up with this? All we want is to live our lives as we are, we do not want to be hassled with kids." It's just not on, we do not need it, we do not want it.

'It's all very well saying kids have got to play somewhere, but I have got to have the right to be able to walk and I cannot.'

Mr McWilliams, 62, a former Malew commissioner, said the problem also restricted the mobility of some of his disabled neighbours.

He moved into his bungalow from another part of the estate last November.

Police had tried to tackle the problem, he said, and he had talked to some of the parents.

But he wants more to be done by the Department of Local Government and the Environment, which owns the houses on the estate.

'The DLGE has got to be responsible, it put the people in the properties — it has got to get off its backside and get somebody out,' he said.

'These tenants are getting away with it because they know nothing is going to happen.'

Inspector Mike Musson, of the police's south division, said: 'I sympathise. He is blind — when walking around, if there's a hazard on the road, it can cause problems.

'There are a number of old and disabled people living in that square. We have asked parents to ensure children do take their toys in after playing out as a matter of courtes
y.

'It's a quality of life issue, we take it seriously and will try to sort it out as and when we can.'

Inspector Musson said police had recommended the DLGE install more litter bins in the area.

He added no other problems were reported at monthly partnership meetings between police and Malew representatives.

DLGE director of estates and housing Richard Senior said a housing officer visited Mr McWilliams last week.

'They agreed to clear up the mess outside his house and made arrangements to move some of the old bikes that were lying around,' he said.

'They have spoken to families about their children's toys.'

He added the area in which Mr McWilliams lives is to have a number of environmental improvements involving fencing, parking areas, landscaping, driveways, street lighting and road surfacing.

A planning application for the work is to be submitted shortly.