VILLAGE residents are reclaiming their back streets through a new crimebusting initiative locking out people who blight their lives.

An 18-month trial due to start in Coundon will see lanes behind terraced homes blocked off with gates to keep out people responsible for anti-social behaviour.

Householders in Hillside Road, Collingwood Street and East Avenue will be the first in County Durham to benefit from the 'alleygates' which, if they prove effective, will be used in other areas. Only the residents will be given keys.

Coundon people have complained that drug-users and unruly gangs have been gathering in the back streets leaving litter, needles and syringes and causing damage. People who attended a public meeting all voted for the gates and many said they would join a committee set up to administer the project being managed for the Wear and Tees Community Safety Partnership by community agency DISC.

Although the Coundon initiative is a first for County Durham, alleygates have been used in London since the mid-1990s.

They have been particularly effective in Liverpool, where more than 1,000 have been installed in the last three to four years. In the North-East, they can be found in Middlesbrough, Hartlepool, Stockton and Billingham.

Pensioner Thora Bussey, 74, of Hillside Road, Coundon, said: "It will bring back a sense of community to the streets.

"We will put flower boxes in the back alleys and keep them nice and tidy. The children will be able to play safely without their parents worrying about the traffic."

Det Insp Ted Edgar, of Bishop Auckland police, who chairs the partnership's burglary task group, said: "Alleygating is only one of a number of initiatives that the Wear and Tees Community Safety Partnership has introduced to address crime and the fear of crime."

Money to fund the project was identified within the Communities Against Drugs action plan.