POLICE have assured villagers that a new beat officer will be appointed to patrol Chilton.

People have expressed concerns about rising levels of youth disorder and anti-social behaviour in the community.

The village has not had a beat officer since the death of PC Andrew Miller, who was found hanged at his Newton Aycliffe home last month.

There have been rumours circulating in the village that PC Miller would not be replaced.

One woman, who did not wish to be named, said unruly youths were driving people out of their homes.

The 55-year-old woman said youths had fired air rifle pellets and thrown eggs at windows, thrown stones, damaged cars and scrawled graffiti on buildings.

She said: "When incidents happen I go into shock, I get weepy and start shaking. It takes a long time to get myself together, then the next incident happens. They know they intimidate you and they know exactly what they are doing. It has got to a situation where I don't think I can stand it very much longer."

She blamed private landlords for the problem and said stricter vetting procedures for both landlords and tenants was needed.

Chief Inspector Terry Johnson, of the Sedgefield police division, attended a recent residents' meeting to allay some of the villagers fears.

He said police were aware of concerns about anti-social behaviour, but stressed that it was not out of proportion to the size of the village.

He said that a dedicated special constable was still on patrol in the area and that there were plans to replace the beat officer as soon as possible.

Chief Insp Johnson also pointed to recent crime figures which showed that burglary and car crime in the village had shown significant reductions recently.