BOUNCERS have been drafted into a Twickenham fast food restaurant to deal with gangs of youths, after their manager was attacked last month.

McDonalds on King Street have enlisted the security staff to man the doors on Friday and Saturday nights, to handle the groups who congregate outside.

Shift manager Santos Lamsal told the Richmond and Twickenham Times: "It is because we have had a lot of problems with kids.

"Some of the employees were attacked on February 8. They threw a cigarette at the eye of the manager, it didn't go in his eye but it burnt his eyebrow."

The guards work between 6pm and 11pm and only allow two youths in at a time.

"It had been getting worse recently. We had problems before but not this bad.

"The problem is that we were getting 20 or 30 kids coming in at a time and you can't do anything with them." said Mr Lamsal.

Richmond police say they are aware of the problem and are working to tackle it. Chief Inspector Simon Phipps, the borough liaison officer, said: "They are buying alcohol locally and then going to the Embankment and running amok there, upsetting the residents.

"We are about to launch an operation to deal with the youths. Part of this will involve arresting the troublemakers and we will also inform their parents exactly what they are up to, as I suspect that they are not aware of what their child doing in Twickenham."

He added that anyone who knew who the group were, or were concerned about their behaviour, should contact the police.

Reducing anti-social behaviour in the borough is one of the main objectives of Richmond police this year. Ch Insp Phipps said to help achieve this he aims to put four police community support officers on the beat in Twickenham town centre to patrol the trouble spots. "They will have a fixed patrol and will be at the hot spots when the resources are needed. When they are not on duty I will have police officers on the patrol," he said.

The police are also targeting off licences who they think are responsible for selling them alcohol, warning them about what will happen if it carries on and have been working with Richmond Council to help make the Embankment less attractive to youngsters.

Twickenham town centre manager Esther Warboys said the introduction of guards was an unfortunate necessity', as police resources were stretched and said she had been having a lot of complaints from people about the youths. A bus campaign to promote the message that Twickenham was not a soft touch' for people wanting to cause trouble is currently being developed, she said. She also plans talks with Heatham House to see if they can help keep the youths of the streets on Friday and Saturday nights.

Twickenham MP Vincent Cable said the McDonalds guards highlights the fact that there is not sufficient security on the streets at these times. There is no visible police presence. They will come out of Twickenham police station to respond to emergencies but there isn't that physical presence to deter problems.

"I think it would be more helpful if McDonalds worked with other businesses to fund additional officers who could help police the streets of Twickenham more generally, rather than just employ their own security guards. It also could have the effect of just pushing the problem a bit further down the street."