Police were given powers to break up gangs making residents lives a misery in April.

The six-month dispersal order, around the Alban Crescent area of Borehamwood, helped reduce crime in the problem area by 80 per cent.

It was introduced after residents had complained they were constantly faced with verbal taunts and having objects thrown through their windows.

In lighter news, a one-eyed horse saved from the brink of death took to the town to meet his fans.

Rue, who lives in stables in Slade Farm, Butterfly Lane, trotted down Leeming Road, Borehamwood, to mark the March Grand National.

Colindale residents Elaine Cooper and Bob Massey managed to scrape £800 together so Rue could have life-saving surgery to remove his infected eye.

In news that shocked the town, a woman was stabbed in broad daylight in the middle of a busy street.

The victim, who was stabbed following a row in Buckingham Road, Borehamwood, was taken to Barnet Hospital but later discharged.

Residents were worried that knife crime in the area had risen – with one saying: “I never go out after dark now, I do not feel safe at all.”

Traders also blamed high rents and business rates for the amount of empty shops along Shenley Road.

The row of vacant buildings was dubbed an “eyesore” and councillors called on Hertsmere Borough Council to address the problem.

In its core strategy, the council promised to “focus on all new retail activity along Shenley Road and to promote to the high street”.