A LENGTHY stretch of a busy road was plunged into darkness after a group of teenagers destroyed several street lights.

Roy Gould was walking his dog along North Dane Way in the Lordswood area of Chatham when he noticed a group of up to eight youths with a pair of bolt-cutters. Mr Gould, 34, who lives locally, watched in disbelief as the youths tore open the lights, dragged the wires out and cut them to pieces.

The teenagers, who Mr Gould estimates were aged between 16 and 18 years, managed to destroy as many as 10 lights before running of. Mr Gould hurried home to phone the police, but said that before he could find the number of the nearest police station, the vandals were long gone.

According to Mr Gould, the area is well known as a trouble spot. He said: "I've had cars stolen from my driveway before and it's probably the same kind of people doing this.

It makes you very angry."

Medway Council is responsible for street lights in the area and a spokesperson warned that the vandals were risking not only public safety, but also their own. "The council is aware of the incident, which was foolhardy and put their safety in danger," said a council spokesperson.

"The street lights carry 250 volts and the vandals who carried out this action were fortunate not to be electrocuted. We estimate the damage to be in the region of £2,000, plus the re-connection fees to ensure the lights are working again.

"The council is putting some extra wire around these lights in an effort to stop this from happening again. We would welcome any residents who spot this type of behaviour to contact the police."