Durham Police are launching a three-month blitz on the activities of youths in the village of Brandon, near Durham.

The crackdown, the first of its kind in the county, will also involve the fire service, the district and county councils and housing association.

The force has pledged high visibility patrols to tackle car crime, anti-social behaviour and graffiti.

About 200 homes in the Vicarage Flats, Dunelm Court and Redwood areas will be the first to be targeted in the first weeks of the campaign before moving on to other trouble spots.

'Significant improvements'

Insp Dick Dodds, of Durham Police, who is leading the operation, said: "Put simply we want to make it a safer and better place to live, particularly for those vulnerable people in the community who often feel most threatened."

Lesley Catterson, who chairs the Brandon and Meadowfield residents' group, said: "We hope to secure funding to help develop facilities for our young people, but in the short-term we are looking to this operation to provide significant improvements.

"We have got to stick together and show the people responsible we will not put up with their behaviour."

Earlier this year, Prime Minister Tony Blair used a speech in County Durham to launch a new police project tackling yob culture.

He launched Durham Police's StreetSafe initiative in an effort to reduce vandalism, graffiti, teenage drinking and criminal damage.