 YOB culture is sweeping Merseyside. That is what ECHO readers have told us in response to our campaign to reclaim our neighbourhoods. Just 24 hours after we launched our new initiative to clamp down on yobs, readers have flooded our hot-line with their stories about abuse, vandalism and harassment. Anthony Smith, 37, of Wavertree, has suffered abuse for four years. He says he has been called names, mocked for being Catholic and endured malicious calls to the police. He said: "I have had my kids sworn at, my wife has been shoved in the street and my fence damaged. "I have reported it all to the police and kept a diary of anti-social behaviour, but nothing changes." Shirley Taylor, 39, from Speke, says she had a knife held to her throat early this year by a woman. The mum-of-eight says her family have also been racially abused because her husband is half Asian and her windows have been smashed. "The ECHO's campaign is very important. This kind of behaviour has got to be stamped out. "People are living in fear because of things like terrorism, but they are turning on people who have lived here all their lives." Mark Brady, 45, owneroperator of ABTO Coaches in Bootle, said: "We have had problems with things being thrown at the coach windows, particularly in the Kirkby area." Readers also reported: * Fences kicked in, windows broken and CCTV cameras stolen at the home of a disabled man. * A Fazakerley family terrorised for four months. * A woman whose car windscreen was shattered after being shot at. * A resident of L11 hounded out of her home of 22 years after a campaign of hate, during which her car was destroyed three times. The woman, who has cancer and has had a heart attack, is now moving for her own safety. * Lawlessness in Netherton but the residents' association is fighting back. * Residents near a city school say their windows are being broken by pupils. | 
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