A HOUSING association pledged yesterday that it was pursuing a policy of zero tolerance against troublesome neighbours, and vowed that none of its tenants would have to live in fear.

The assurances came after a court action that saw a woman evicted from her home on the Overfields estate at Ormesby, in east Cleveland.

It followed what the Coast and Country Housing Association has described as an 18-month campaign of terror waged by the woman, her family and visitors.

The housing association was granted an outright possession order and injunction at Teesside Magistrates' Court after numerous complaints from other residents about intimidation and abuse.

These included rowdy gangs of youths congregating outside the house and intimidating passers-by, alcohol abuse, shouting, swearing, urinating, loud music, throwing stones and mud at windows, criminal damage, verbal abuse and threats and racing off-road bikes on footpaths.

Several tenants are understood to have moved because of the trouble.

Ronny Harris, housing operations director for the association, which took over the running of housing stock from Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council, said: "Coast and Country will not tolerate anti-social behaviour and our Tenancy Enforcement Team is on hand to investigate serious cases of nuisance and anti-social behaviour referred from the Housing Offices.

"We work in partnership with the police, local authority and other agencies to consider complaints on an individual basis and take appropriate action.

"Our team looked carefully at the impact of this family's behaviour on the community before taking appropriate action. We gave the family every chance to change their behaviour but they would not co-operate.

"The Tenancy Enforcement Team worked closely with residents experiencing the ongoing nuisance caused by this family. They assisted by completing incident diaries and giving witness statements that formed a significant part of the case file presented to the judge."

The association is encouraging residents to fill in incident diaries with anonymity guaranteed, which could lead to successful court prosecutions.