A PLAGUE of vandalism is costing Wear Valley ratepayers upwards of £550,000, the district council estimated this week.

The shocking total - which includes money spent on security - led council leader Olive Brown to plead with residents for help in tackling the problem that affects every section of the community.

Money spent on fixing damage by vandals means less is available to other services.

A massive £191,463 was spent on repairs to council houses hit by vandalism and criminal damage. One community building alone, the Deborah Wood Sports Pavilion in West Auckland, ate up £12,000 first in repairs and then in demolition costs.

On some estates the threat to empty properties is so great that the council spends £276,000 a year on making them secure. Boarded up homes makes neighbouring properties harder to let and means the council loses rent money.

Staff time managing empty houses and collecting discarded needles and other waste is estimated at another £10,000. On top of this it costs £36,857 to run two CCTV systems in the centres of Bishop Auckland and Crook.

The district council says it is working with police, the county council, health and probation services to reverse the trend.

The probation service has allocated 5,000 community service hours per year for community safety initiatives such as graffiti removal and litter picks.

And the Home Office has given funding for a mobile CCTV system to be taken to crime 'hotspots' as well as £30,000 to secure vulnerable homes on Bishop Auckland's Woodhouse Close estate.

Mrs Brown said: "If people do nothing to stop vandalism we might just as well pour our money down the drain.

"Some people may be frightened to get involved or feel intimidated in the face of the vandals, but people must get involved if we are to tackle this problem. They should report incidents to the police and tell them the names of those involved if they know who they are.