ELEVEN homes could be demolished on a Darlington estate in a bid to stop nuisance families terrorising their neighbours.

The houses in Jedburgh Drive and Minors Crescent, on the Branksome estate, are all empty and have been severely vandalised.

In the past, the council has had problems with tenants in the houses in Jedburgh Drive, especially with young families with large numbers of children.

The houses, which have one bedroom on the ground floor and living accommodation upstairs, have proved unpopular and unsuitable for families with babies.

Cliff Brown, director of community services at the council, said: "This particular block has a history of serious neighbour nuisance and there was also an over-concentration of children, with four to five children in each property, many of whom attracted other children, bringing the total number of children in the block to more than 50 on occasions.

"Through a combination of general turnover, court actions and transfers, the entire block is now empty and being vandalised, despite security arrangements."

Mr Brown said residents elsewhere on the estate did not cause any problems and as long as the council ensured there was a limited number of children living in the area, things would improve.

He said: "By demolishing these seven properties and adopting a flexible allocations policy to keep child densities down, it is considered the area will significantly improve."

In Minors Crescent, one block of four one-bedroomed flats will be targeted.

There is only one tenant left in this block, which has also been affected by nuisance neighbours.

Mr Smith said: "The location of these flats makes them more isolated from other properties and more vulnerable to nuisance, but if the flats were demolished it would improve the overall appearance of the area."

The cost of the work will be £14,135 for the demolitions in Minors Crescent and £40,360 for the demolition of the houses in Jedburgh Drive.

Residents' groups at Branksome and Cockerton and ward councillors have all been informed of the plans and no objections have been received by the council.

Councillors are expected to approve the demolition work at a meeting next week.