A Bristol family have been forced out of their new council home by a gang of thugs – because they had come from the "wrong" neighbourhood.

Sabrina Evans, 23, her partner Paul Derrick, 36, and their four young children are quitting their home in Southmead after being burgled, attacked with bricks and petrol bombed in the space of a week.

They say they appear to have been targeted simply because they moved into the area from Lawrence Weston. They had only lived in the three-bedroom property in Trowbridge Road for a month when it was burgled and their 42in television and Nintendo Wii games console were stolen.

A day later, the family were threatened by a gang of yobs who threw rocks towards the house, hitting Mr Derrick in the stomach and shattering the rear windscreen of their car.

The couple decided enough was enough and moved out for their own safety after members of the same gang then threatened to burn their house down – a threat they appear to have unsuccessfully tried to carry out.

The family are now living with Miss Evans' mother in Lockleaze and have asked the city council to rehouse them.

When Mr Derrick returned to his home in Southmead to collect some of his children's clothes yesterday - Wednesday - he noticed the remains of what is thought to be a petrol bomb outside the front room window.

He said he discovered black scorch marks beneath the window and pieces of a smashed blackened glass on the ground.

Miss Evans said: "These three kids came round saying we were 'dirty L dubbers' because we came from Lawrence Weston and that if we didn't get out they would burn the house down with the kids in there.

"They came back the next day and chucked a brick. It was heading towards my two-year-old son Phoenix, who was stood outside the house, but my partner Paul jumped in the way and he was hit.

"Then they were chucking bits of brick at the back of our car. Apparently these kids are well-known for this sort of thing and they are always smashing windows and threatening people.

"These kids are about 20 years old and they go around on bikes wearing white tracksuits. Neighbours say people are scared of them and are frightened to speak up.

"Trowbridge Road is meant to be a very bad street. Living there was giving me heart palpitations."

The family moved to Southmead on December 8 after living in a cramped two-bedroom flat in Lawrence Weston.

Miss Evans, mum to Archie, five, Phoenix, two, Wyatt, one, and Lola, five months, said: "We went to the police and they said it was unsafe for us to go back but the council said they had nowhere for us at the moment.

"The kids are sleeping on the floor at my mum's house on a blow-up bed."

Michelle Williams, one of Miss Evans' neighbours, said she witnessed the gang making threats and throwing rocks.

The mother-of-two, aged 43, said: "I saw the brick going through his car window and noticed that my neighbour's hand was covered in blood. The kids had baseball bats with them. They were saying they would burn the house down.

"I don't know of problems with people from Lawrence Weston but at one time there were organised scraps between people from Southmead, Lawrence Weston and other areas."

Ms Williams said she had also had trouble after moving in. She said: "The second night after moving in here, a pile of rubbish was set alight outside my front gates.

"They don't like it when people move in. My front window was also smashed in on New Year's Eve.

"Before moving out, the family living next door were harassed and the police were involved. If you do anything about it you end up in more trouble and get called a grass."

Another neighbour Ernie Oakley, 62, said an exclusion zone had been set up in the road to stop yobs congregating and CCTV was installed five months ago.

He said: "It sounds like the family are being targeted for some reason. It's the first time I've heard that sort of thing happen to people moving in but there's rivalry between different areas all over the country. I thought things had been quieter here recently."

Another neighbour, who asked not to be named, said her front door was kicked in shortly after she moved to the area last Christmas.

A spokesman for Avon & Somerset police said investigations were ongoing following the incidents on January 5, 6 and 7.

City council spokeswoman Lynda Wookey said they were "sympathetic" to the family's circumstances and added: "The council's working with the police to find the best possible outcome."