YOBS have forced another York family to install street cameras to protect their home.

Weeks after the Evening Press highlighted the plight of Ruth Wilks, it has emerged that one of her neighbours has decided to step up security in the face of a barrage of anti-social behaviour.

The final straw for Michael and Dawn Thornton came when thugs scaled a 6ft high fence and stole a trials bike worth £1,400 from their garden shed.

Their son's electric toy bike was also swiped - but was later found discarded in a nearby garden.

This came after an old car Michael was restoring over several years was destroyed.

Vandals smashed open his lock-up garage and wrecked the Honda Prelude, which had to be taken to the scrapyard.

Other flashpoints include drunken youths ripping out concrete street lights in Elmfield Avenue and gangs of up to 40 noisy teenagers gathering outside into the early hours.

Mr Thornton, 41 - who believes local youths were behind Monday night's thefts - said: "I'm going to have to spend up to £500 to put CCTV cameras up.

"But I don't see why I should have to do that to keep my property secure."

The CCTV move follows the story of Ruth Wilks, who suffered five years of hell from gangs of youths and had thousands of pounds worth of property damaged.

The Monkton Road resident bought street cameras for her house - and has since claimed that that trouble stopped after she told her story in the Evening Press.

Mr Thornton, a former mechanic, married to chef, Dawn, 35, is now heading down the same costly road.

He told how he was forced to retire after a heart attack and now helps care for one of his four children, who has behavioural problems.

He said he was "gutted" when the Honda car was wrecked.

Mr Thornton said that of ten rental garages, seven had been breeze-blocked up after vandal attacks.

Mrs Wilks was not available for comment yesterday. But her son, Richard, said he fully understood why other residents might follow her lead and upgrade security.

"It's always better to have some deterrent. I would advise anyone to go ahead and do it."

The off-road bike has since been recovered, and a York Police spokesman confirmed officers were investigating the report of a theft made by Mr Thornton.

Updated: 10:03 Thursday, March 24, 2005