A TASK force has been set up to tackle anti-social behaviour on a problem Teesside estate,

About 100 embattled residents at Grove Hill, Middlesbrough, have been issued with diary sheets by the district council, to keep a log of daily incidents.

Applications to bring anti-social orders against seven yobs making residents' lives a misery are now awaiting court dates.

Action has been taken to block off roads used by boy racers charging around the estate in stolen cars and a house used as a drugs den has also been boarded up.

The amount of litter in the area was so great that the Middlesbrough cleansing squad had to be joined by reinforcements from neighbouring Stockton to help out.

Police, street wardens, youth offending workers and representatives from a range of Middlesbrough Council departments have now formed a neighbourhood management team.

Middlesbrough Council recognises that residents in the Fairfield, Hawthorne and Crofton Avenue areas of Grove Hill are experiencing problems with local youths who are committing serious criminal damage and car crime in the area.

A council spokesman said yesterday the local authority would be calling a meeting of residents in the near future to hear at first hand what the problems were, where resources should be focused and "where we go from here".

A resident, who did not want to be named said: "We've had enough with all the anti-social behaviour and the thieving. Enough is enough."

Ward councillor Bob Kerr said: "We are making the best use of all the resources we are putting into Grove Hill.

"It's a very clear signal to residents that we are going to do something about the problems they are experiencing.

"It is making sure they know how to get action and that the area has turned a corner. We have closed off the areas where people were driving cars and a house used for the purposes of drug taking has been closed down. An awful lot has already happened."

Similar neighbourhood management schemes are already in force at Hemlington where it has led to the installation of closed-circuit television cameras, and on Middlesbrough's Easterside estate where youth facilities have been improved.