TWO youths in West Auckland are due to be given Anti-Social Behaviour Orders as authorities battle to curb vandalism in the village.

The move was revealed by Wear Valley District Council's anti-social behaviour officer Phil Shaw at a meeting to discuss the problems.

Mr Shaw was joined by local police officers to talk to residents about incidents and discuss how the situation could be improved.

The message they delivered was that more crimes needed to be reported - but Mr Shaw added that enough crimes had been reported against two youths for action to be taken.

"I have two anti-social behaviour orders pending within the St Helen's and West Auckland area," he said.

"They are juveniles, they are youths, young people who you will probably know of or will have heard of."

Residents spoke of vandalism and threatening behaviour from local youths, including roaming gangs late at night, underage drinking, litter and graffiti. One resident said: "A lot of people live in fear."

Mr Shaw urged villagers to report all such crimes anonymously on diary sheets, and vowed that action would be taken against persistent offenders.

PC Andy Hucker said: "It's not just the responsibility of the police to solve these problems now. The most significant role is played by the community.

"There has to come a point where you are willing to stand up to these people and give us this information. With these names, we can pay these people visits. It's information that we need. The message is, it's essential that these diary sheets are filled in."

Other issues raised included cars driving on East Green, which will soon be prevented by the installation of heavy duty bollards, and underage drinking, with UV pens due to be handed out to shopkeepers to try and reduce it.