A POLICE chief is urging his officers to do more to help people suffering from anti-social behaviour.

County Durham's Chief Constable, Paul Garvin, wants the police to offer their expertise and knowledge to people who call them for problems which are not police matters.

He plans to give them more freedom to offer help with problems such as noise - a council responsibility - and point people in the right direction to get help.

Mr Garvin, who took over earlier this year from George Hedges, said: "I do not want people to get the idea we are switching to the social side of policing at the expense of tackling crime. The reality is I want to develop more of both.

"We need to be more flexible, adaptable and dynamic in the way we respond to calls from the public.''

He said that in the past decade, the force has been good at tackling crime.

But, he added: "We have not been so good at tackling low-level anti-social behaviour, which plagues the life out of people on a daily basis."

The entire force staff of 2,366, including civilians, traffic wardens and special constables, are being sent on one-day leadership courses to encourage employees to think for themselves in situations where people may look to them for leadership.