FREE public transport is to blame for yobs, according to a Neighbourhood Watch co-ordinator.

John Verinder thinks the gangs of yobs which hang around near Eden Park station, Upper Elmers End Road, Beckenham, come from other areas because it does not cost them anything to get there.

Bus travel is free to under-16s under Mayor Ken Livingstone's scheme and children can also get on trains from areas such as Lewisham, Sydenham and Hayes.

Mr Verrinder said: "Ken Livingstone issued travelling passes to kids so they can stay out all night."

The Eden Park Neighbourhood Watch co-ordinator says parents are scared when their children go out in case they get beaten up.

Concerned resident Zali Collymore-Hussein said: "If my children have their friends coming round it is quite intimidating and they do not make it easy for them to walk by.

"The rumours are the gangs are coming from Coney Hall and Hayes because they can travel free.

"We are a soft touch because we do not know them and there is also yobbish behaviour as they can get alcohol."

Mr Verrinder believes there is a two-step solution to the problem.

The first would be not to replace the police stations with Safer Neighbourhood bases.

And the second is to stop yobs coming to Eden Park by restricting free bus travel and having more ticket collectors on late-night trains.

Mr Verrinder said: "I think you could save a lot of trouble by restricting their movement by making them pay after 6pm. They would not pay so they would stay in their area."

Mother-of-two Mrs Collymore- Hussein, 50, agrees.

She said: "They need to look at the times they have free travel and it is also about staffing at stations."

A spokesman for Mr Livingstone said: "Anyone caught behaving anti-socially on London buses will have their free travel withdrawn."

Chief Inspector Marshall Kent, who is in charge of the Safer Neighbourhoods Partnership, said the police stations would not close.

He said: "We are working to target robbery and anti-social behaviour."

A dispersal order was put into place on March 31 and will be in force until September.