HARTLEPOOL councillors have urged to use everything they can to help tackle anti-social behaviour after a six month investigation into the issue.

Hartlepool Borough Council Audit and Governance Committee has been working this municipal year on an investigation into anti-social behaviour in the town.

The committee has now drawn up and approved a draft final report, following months of work including collaborating with partners, presentations from organisations, drop-in sessions, public surveys and more.

Councillors stressed the importance of getting the message out there on the importance of tackling anti-social behaviour.

Coune Lesley Hamilton said: “It cuts across all political barriers because this is something that affects everybody on every ward and we are all affected by it.

“This is not just a council issue, it’s about the police taking responsibility. People need to be talking about it.”

Councillors on the committee particularity stressed the importance of getting to children to talk to them about anti-social behaviour.

This included through schools and through the council’s free summer swim programme.

Coun Marjorie James said: “We need to make better use of the fact we have children in our care for a period during the school holidays for the swimming and that has to be utilised in a much more productive way.

“I just think we need to grasp the nettle and work outside the box we’ve allowed ourselves to get into and broaden that approach so we use every mechanism we can. Let’s just use what we’ve got.”

However the report also stressed it was a myth to think anti-social behaviour is all down to children, with adults responsible for two thirds of incidents in Hartlepool

Coun Ged Hall said: “Members felt strongly that it was important to dispel the myth that young people are the primary perpetrators of anti-social behaviour.”

Praise was also given to events such as Crucial Crew, an annual multi-agency event that teaches children how to stay safe through a series of practical workshops, and the Anti-Social Behaviour Awareness Days (ASBAD) in schools.

Councillors called for these events to be more heavily promoted and more programmes to be carried out.

Councillors also stressed the importance of cooperation and multi-agency work between the council and police, along with raising awareness of the Community Trigger among councillors.

The Community Trigger was introduced in 2014 and gives a legal right to victims of anti-social behaviour to request a review of how their complaints were handled.

If they meet a threshold of three reports over a six-month period in Hartlepool they can activate the trigger through the lead agency, which is the multi-agency Community Safety Team, featuring the police, council and more.