SPECIAL enforcement powers have been used by a council to temporarily take over a privately-owned house.

Stockton Borough Council says it is the first authority in the Tees Valley and is believed to be one of the first in the whole region to issue a final Empty Dwelling Management Order (EDMO).

Housing officers used the order to take over a privately-owned empty property in the Roseworth area of Stockton.

The property had been empty for several years and the council has issued a statement saying neighbours had raised concerns that the house was a target for anti-social behaviour.

The authority will now have control of the property for the next seven years and has refurbished the place and found a tenant.

Stockton Council’s Cabinet Member for Housing and Community Safety, Councillor Steve Nelson, said: “The council takes the matter of empty homes and the effects they have very seriously.

"We know that at the moment there are nearly 2,800 empty homes across Stockton Borough and almost 1,250 of them have been empty for more than six months.

"We are doing our utmost to try and work with owners of empty properties to bring them back into use but when the owner is unable or unwilling to cooperate, enforcement action will be taken.”