Yobs' reign of terror has forced us to flee

The Fraser family claim they had to abandon their flat of 20 years in Ravenswood Avenue in the Inch after being put under siege by a string of attacks and threats stretching back to a pub row on Christmas Day.

Robert Fraser, 49, told how his family had to be moved into temporary accommodation by the city council amid fears for their safety.

In the most terrifying incident, his son, James, 30, was slashed across the hand by what was believed to be a surgical scalpel.

The violence started on Christmas night when Mr Fraser's sons, James and Robert, 26, were involved in an altercation with a group of men outside an Edinburgh pub. Mr Fraser described how a gang of around a dozen men descended on his home after his sons returned.

He said: "They had phoned the house to say they were coming round and wanted my sons to go out to face them. I locked the stair door and could see out as one of them smashed the windows of my daughter's car.

"On Boxing Day some of them came round in a car. One of them had a knife while another also had a weapon I couldn't make out. They said they wanted a 'square go' with my sons and demanded they come out.

"A few weeks later a brick was thrown through our kitchen window. They've been driving past the house and phoning up to make threats.

"Then, about three weekends ago, my son was in a shop in Walter Scott Avenue when two of them came in. James was punched in the face then chased around the shop with a surgical scalpel. He had bottles thrown at him. He was eventually cornered and slashed in the hand. It was severed right to the bone and it needed 18 stitches.

"The following Sunday, my daughter's car was set on fire.

"We've lived here 20 years, but we had to leave. Whatever they used on the car could have been used to set fire to our home."

Council staff and police decided to move the Frasers to temporary accommodation in the wake of the spiralling violence. Mr Fraser had been staying at the home with his wife, Mary, 48, along with daughters Ashley, 24, and Nicole, 21, as well as grandson Lewis, five.

His son James has also been staying with them while he recovers from the hand injury, which has left him temporarily unable to work.

Council workers have covered the windows and doors of the property with metal shutters to protect it from further attacks.

Mr Fraser added: "We've got no idea where we're going to live. We've been driven out our home after all these years. But we didn't have any choice but to go because one of us could have been killed."

A police spokesman said: "A 26-year-old man has been charged in connection with a serious assault in Walter Scott Avenue on February 19, while a 21-year-old man has been charged in connection with vandalism in Ravenswood Avenue on December 25."