POLICE are hoping a mini-station, housing six officers, will improve a community.

People on a St Helen Auckland council estate have worked alongside police to produce an antidote to rowdy behaviour and vandalism that blighted the area.

It was decided to convert a terraced property in Melrose Drive into a community police house, where six officers and two special constables will be based with a Wear Valley District Council housing officer from.

Nearly a third of the 300 homes on the estate are boarded up, and residents have suffered an increase in anti-social behaviour.

The district council is planning a programme of reinvestment for the area, and the station is being seen as the start of its new lease of life.

A police spokesman said: "The mini-police station effectively heralds the dawn of a new era for the 3,000 residents of the area, who have been plagued in the past by vandals and rowdiness."

The property was opened yesterday by Durham Constabulary's Chief Constable, George Hedges, estate resident Elsie Mason and Jamie Whitworth, ten. Local teenagers helped to decorate the house, which is leased from the council for a peppercorn rent, and businesses donated paint and materials.

Inspector George Osborne said: "Two residents officially opened the house and were the first people to go in, because this is very much a community house."

Beat officer PC Brian Coates said he hoped the base would help police build links with the community, and said the police presence should give local residents reassurance.

The station will be open between 10am and 10pm daily.