CAISTER Roman fort is being damaged by groups of youths gathering on the site it was claimed this week.

Teenagers clambering over the ancient ruins have dislodged stones and masonry according to a resident who contacted the Mercury.

Dating back to AD200, the fort is owned by English Heritage and managed by Great Yarmouth Borough Council.

The resident, who did not wish to be named, said: “Small groups of children have been regularly congregating on the site after school for the last couple of months.

“They leave a lot of litter and I have seen them running on the ruins, dislodging stones and throwing them around. Information boards have been vandalised and a lot of people are commenting on how untidy the site is.”

Another resident living close to the fort said teens did meet there from time to time, but he was not aware of any problems with vandalism or anti-social behaviour.

He added: “Kids will be kids and they play and hang about there from time to time. It is not an ideal place for them to be, but I am not aware of any serious problems.”

Staff from the borough council are responsible for inspecting and maintaining the site.

Planning policy manager David Glason said: “We check the fort to see there is no litter and the grass is cut. We do get calls from concerned residents from time to time and there have been isolated incidents over the years.

“We visited the fort this week, there was a small amount of litter, but nothing out of the ordinary.”

The fort was built around AD200 to guard against Saxon raids and included a barracks, granaries, workshops, stores and stables.

It had a garrison of between 500 and 1,000 men and was occupied until the end of the fourth century.

It was built on what was a small island where the rivers Ant, Bure, Waveney and Yare entered the sea.

The remains were revealed during an excavation in the 1950s.