A NEW police team will be cracking down on anti-social behaviour in Darlington, thanks to a Government grant worth thousands of pounds.

The Street Safety Team is being set up with £107,000 from the Government Office for the North-East.

The team, made up of a newly appointed inspector and sergeant, will work with beat officers, neighbourhood wardens, Darlington Borough Council and other groups across the town to stop anti-social behaviour.

They will work out the best response to various problems for people in the town, ranging from young children skateboarding on pavements to more serious incidents, such as gangs of youths drinking and being rowdy in public places.

Chief Superintendent Michael Banks, of Darlington police, said: "Anti-social behaviour covers many different things so we need a dedicated team who will respond in appropriate ways using all the different tools at their disposal.

"Children kicking a football against a garage door can cause a nuisance to people, especially the elderly, but obviously that needs a different response than to 50 youths drinking on a street corner.

"Most incidents of anti-social behaviour occur between 2pm and 10pm and involve young people. After that we get more serious incidents that require a different response altogether."

Youth workers and community safety officers from Darlington Borough Council will work with the police team to ensure tenants keep to their council agreements and do not become nuisance neighbours.

Andy Errington, head of youth offending and community safety services, said: "If council tenants are behaving in an anti-social way we will look at their tenancy agreements and do everything we can to make sure they are not nuisance neighbours.

"We can offer parenting classes to people who have trouble controlling their children and can also impose parenting orders on those people who will not, rather than cannot, control their children."