THE County Gazette has unearthed shocking video footage of Taunton youngsters performing life-threatening stunts in the town centre.

The clips include scenes apparently inspired by controversial cult American television series Jackass, in which presenters go to great lengths to cause serious harm to themselves and each other.

The footage has been posted on popular film sharing website You Tube over the past month.

In one video a 16-year-old is seen jumping over a drop into an alley between the roofs of Poundland and Morelli's Café in Taunton's North Street.

The video camera then pans down to show the potentially lethal distance down.

Tracey Bristow, managing director of Morelli's, said: "I'm shocked to find out they're doing this.

"The building is really old and has been here since the 1940s so it's not safe. We don't want to come out and find them dead on our doorstep."

Town centre manager Lucy Ball said: ""It's alarming they are using town centre buildings to do this and we would urge them and their parents to think very carefully before they trespass on to privately owned property to carry out these very dangerous activities.

"We are trying to build up a menu of activities for youngsters and would love to hear what they would like us to try to organise for them."

Other footage filmed in and around Taunton includes boys in crash helmets smashing their heads together, children 'tombstoning' from trees into a river, and teenagers in shopping trolleys being hurled into hedges and each other in the Hankridge Farm car park near Pizza Hut.

A group member responsible for a clip of a youth doing a failed somersault off a rock and landing on his back wrote on the site they are "mainly copying Jackass."

After being shown the footage a spokesman for the safety-promoting charity RoSPA, said: "Children must make informed decisions on where and how to do these things.

"We encourage kids to get out and about and in this case we don't know what level of training they have had."

A police spokesman said: "Trespass is not a criminal offence, but if criminal damage has been committed we'll investigate.

"We'd always encourage people not to put their personal safety in jeopardy."

Poundland was unavailable for comment as the County Gazette went to press.

*For more shocking photos see this week's County Gazette