The occupant of the house who asked not to be identified said he saw a teenager breaking bits off his garden fence.

"I asked him to stop but he just pulled off his shirt and rushed at me with a broken bottle raving that he was going to kill me as about 20 or more other teenagers appeared out of nowhere," he said.

"My partner was ringing and ringing the police, tellingthem we were under attack. There were kids jumping up and down on my car bending panels and a couple attacked my partner's car with a bar or something. It's a brand new car and she had borrowed it from her grandmother for a few days. Those kids didn't give a toss about anybody's property. They just smashed the rear window and the boot panel."

Another resident said they and residents in Harbord Street tend to get the worst of drunken behaviour which spills from the nearby skate park.

"We need that park closed or a big wall put between us and it or have it totally fenced off and locked up in the early evening," residents said.

The residents say they will call for action from Lake Macquarie mayor and MP Greg Piper.

"We don't have enough police and they don't have enough power to deal with these young kids who know they can get away with anything," one resident said.

"They were openly taunting us with the fact they were under 15 and could do what they like. We want the Young Offenders Act changed. Everybody knows what a stupid pieces of legislation it is. It is just a licence for these kids to break the law."

Another resident said: "Attacking a cripple in a wheelchair is just one example."

The residents now warn they will defend themselves and their property.

"We aren't vigilantes but we have to look to each other if the law can't or won't do anything about protecting us and our properties," they said.

Cr Greg Piper said he was very concerned about the incident.

"All people have a right to be secure in their own home and the law has a responsibility to ensure that it is that way," he said.

"The Young Offenders Act doesn't mean kids under 15 are beyond the law because kids aged 10 upwards know the difference between right and wrong. If the Act doesn't have sufficient teeth then it needs changing. I've been calling for more police for years and I am still doing that," Cr Piper said.