POLICE action to tackle anti-social behaviour in a Teesdale village has seen the number of incidents drop by nearly three-quarters.

It is now hoped the successful initiative to tackle anti-social behaviour in Evenwood can be used in other trouble hotspots in the county.

Inspector Ian Butler, of Bishop Auckland police, said the initiative was started after the number of reports of anti-social behaviour in the village rose dramatically.

Between March 7 and April 10, there were 34 incidents of youths causing annoyance in the village and six cases of criminal damage.

Following the start of the initiative, from April 11 until now, there has only been eight incidents of youths causing annoyance and six cases of criminal damage.

The initiative worked in several different ways.

Beat officer PC Amanda Long and the Police Community Support Officers increased patrols at trouble hotspots.

The support officers also worked with children at the local primary school in citizenship classes and the school's liaison officer, Jeff Sawyer, and PC Brendan Coll, worked with pupils at Staindrop Comprehensive School.

Leaflets were also distributed around the village explaining how people can call the police on a new non-emergency telephone number.

Insp Butler said: "We also worked with people who've been the victims of anti-social behaviour and provided them with reassurance and information about what they've reported to keep them in the picture.

"We're quite pleased with the way the initiative has worked and it's quite a significant reduction.

"We don't want to be complacent about the result, but this is something we want to sustain and build upon."