A “granny gang” of ageing Chinese women who terrorised people into paying debts by cursing, spitting and even stripping off and grabbing their victim’s genitals, have been imprisoned for up to 11 years, reports say.

The elderly “enforcers” – who were aged up to 70 – were enlisted from outdoor ballroom dancing groups which met in public squares in Shangqiu, in the central Henan province, according to the youth.cn website, which is run by the Communist Youth League.

More than 30 gang members used strong-arm tactics to retrieve debts for clients and also to harass people into moving out of their homes to make way for property developers, report said.

Among the tactics used was intimidating people for days with megaphones before confronting them directly.

A man named Zhao, who was being intimidated into leaving his property, told the Beijing News that he saw eight of the women spitting at a neighbour.