PEOPLE plagued by rowdy behaviour from drinkers are to have their problems eased with the help of a grant from the Home Office.

Wear Valley District Council has received a £30,000 grant to install two new closed-circuit television security cameras on two streets in Crook.

The streets are notorious as late-night trouble spots asdrinkers make their way home from the town's pubs.

The cameras will cover the north end of Hope Street and Mill Street, where residents living near pubs have complained of nuisance and anti-social behaviour from drinkers at night.

The cameras are also expected to deter car crime by providing surveillance on car parks behind the pubs.

Elaine Baker, community safety co-ordinator for Wear Valley council, said: "On Friday and Saturday evening there are problems because people have had a drink and come out and use people's doorways as toilets. This grant is good news. We did put in an awful lot of work into the bid in the first place.

"We had two bids in, but the second for Bishop Auckland was unsuccessful. We wanted to extend the surveillance there a little bit."

Peter Clark, head of policy at the council, said the next step would be to look at how the CCTV system was monitored and information gathered.

He said: "The whole system would be monitored much more effectively 24-hours a day and that means dedicated staff. At the moment the police and district council are exploring these issues."

Acting Inspector Brian Maudling, of Crook police, said they were delighted at the grant award.

The new cameras are part of a £3.5m investment for the North-East to improve CCTV coverage.

Nine new cameras will be situated in Darlington, plus £91,000 for four cameras in the West Cornforth area of Sedgefield, and a further £30,425 for an extension of the CCTV scheme in the Crook area.

Other areas in the region to benefit from grand aid will be the centres of Newcastle and Gateshead.