FAMILIES have been given the key to a safer future through a crime cracking initiative which locks out people who blight their lives.

Residents of three streets in Coundon are the first in the county to have their back lane blocked off with eight feet high steel gates called Alleygates.

If the 18-month trial scheme is successful it could be used in other areas.

In Coundon the scheme covers 23 homes in Hillside Road, Collingwood Street and East Avenue.

Thora Bussey, 74, who has lived in Hillside Road for 42 years, is confident the gates will change lives.

She said: "We are proud to be the first in Durham to get the gates. It will bring back a sense of community.

"We are all sick of the gangs hanging round and people drinking and taking drugs and causing damage."

Alleygates have been used in London since the mid-Nineties. They have been particularly effective in Liverpool where more than 1,000 sets have been installed in the past three to four years. In the North-East there are gates in Middlesbrough, Hartlepool, Stockton and Billingham.

People who attended a public meeting all voted for the gates that are managed by community agency DISC for the Wear and Tees Community Safety Partnership.

Chief Supt Robin Trounson, who chairs the partnership, said: "The gates have been tried elsewhere and been proved to work. They reduce crime and restore order and make residents feel safe and secure.

" If this experiment is successful we will be looking to support others who want help."

But Sarah Campbell, whose home in East Avenue overlooks the gates, is handing out leaflets warning that they could cast a blight over Coundon.

She said: "I think people should stop and think before they agree to have them. They are an eyesore and a blow to morale."