COMMUNITY wardens in Hartlepool have been hailed a success after dealing with more than 1,000 incidents in the first six months.

Volunteers dealt with everything from vandalism and graffiti to anti-social behaviour, neighbour disputes and drug problems.

Between January and June this year they handled 1,046 incidents. Environmental problems proved to be the biggest single cause of complaint, including fly-tipping, rubbish, and damage to fences, walls and kerbs.

Wardens manager Ted Morgan said: "These statistics show how community wardens have really made their mark. One of our aims is to reduce people's fear of crime and we are delighted that many residents have remarked how their mere presence on the streets is helping them feel much safer.

"Residents also deserve a lot of credit because without their support the wardens would have found it much more difficult to operate so effectively."

Hartlepool's community wardens scheme gets more than £600,000 from the Government's Neighbourhood Renewal Fund over three years. Although they have no formal enforcement powers, they do act as the eyes and ears of communities and act as a link between residents, the local authority and police.