Up to 100 rampaging yobs smashed car windscreens and tore wing mirrors from about 20 vehicles as they swept through two streets in Wigston.

Witnesses described seeing the teenagers laughing, jeering and drunkenly vandalising anything in their path while running amok in Victoria Street and Gladstone Street, Wigston.

Residents say the thugs caused thousands of pounds worth of damage.

Police said three people had been arrested following the incident at about 9pm on Friday.

Neighbourhood Watch co-ordinator Chris Huscroft, 63, of Gladstone Street, was among the victims.

He had his car windscreen smashed and has paid £400 to have it replaced. He discovered the damage after returning home at around 11.30pm.

"It is just mindless vandalism," he said.

"The damage along the street must be up to a few thousand pounds.

"When I came home, I saw that my neighbour's car had had its windscreen smashed and then I saw my own had been smashed as well. I was horrified."

One man living nearby, who asked to remain anonymous, said he had seen several large groups of youths run through the streets.

He woke to find one of his car's wing mirrors had been snapped off.

He said: "There was a lot of noise and I looked out the window to see a group of around 30 teenagers running through the street, then another came and then a third.

"There must have been around 100 in total.

"I did not know anything about the damage until Saturday morning, but it was very intimidating.

"I am angry and annoyed that I have to fork out for repair work."

Chantal Orgeas, 31, was at home with her two-year-old daughter when the wrecking spree broke out.

She described hearing a noise coming from the street "like football chanting".

"There was about 100 of them running through the street," she said.

"They were all drunk and there were bottles being smashed. It was really scary. I saw somebody running past my car and then I saw my wing mirror had been broken off.

"When I went to pick it up, one of them stopped and was laughing and pointing at me while I stood there."

A police spokesman said: "Police were called at about 9.15pm to Victoria Street and Gladstone Street, in Wigston, following reports of around 20 cars having been damaged.

"Officers attended the scene and three people were arrested following the incident."

In 2004, police officers in Wigston became the first in the city and county to introduce dispersal orders, under the Anti-Social Behaviour Act 2003.

It gave them powers to order people to leave the area if they were hanging round on the streets. That order was dropped in 2008 after reports that anti-social behaviour had dropped considerably.