Qld community group makes citizen's arrest

A central Queensland community has banded together through a Facebook group to track down brazen teenage thieves stalking their streets.

The Mackay suburb of Ooralea had been beset by thieves for the past month, but on Monday night a group of concerned residents took matters into their own hands.

They followed a group of four teenagers, allegedly watching them break into cars and run from houses, before making a citizen's arrest after staking out a McDonald's for three hours.

The group had used the Ooralea Facebook group to collect information about the streets where the thieves would usually target.

Josh Geiger had started the group earlier in the year as a way for people in the community to get to know each other.

"I just wanted to create a good community feel, I thought it would be a good way for people to support each other's businesses and greet each other with a smile and a wave," Mr Geiger told AAP.

But, for the past month or so, most of the posts on the page were people reporting break-ins and teenagers running amok in the streets.

Mr Geiger hopes the community can return to normal, and says they are planning a big Christmas party.

"At the end of the day we don't want a witch-hunt, we just want people to feel safe," he said.