CLEVELAND Police's Chief Constable Sean Price was put in the hot seat at a tenants' forum when about 50 people questioned him about policing issues in their area.

The force's recent poor performance in the league tables was the focus of some of the questions put when tenants of Coast and Country Housing met the police chief at at Park Court Community Centre, Redcar, recently.

Questions were also asked about the perception that some Tees Valley boroughs were losing out to others for high-profile policing; and many people wanted to know about plans to tackle anti-social behaviour.

Concerns were also raised on issues as diverse as how the emergency services would cope in the event of a terrorist attack and police weekend shift patterns.

Mr Price made a short speech about the challenges which have faced Cleveland Police since he was appointed 14 months ago and he outlined the force's targets for the future.

Jason Lowe, tenancy services manager for Coast and Country Housing, which took over the running of Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council's houses in 2002, said: "This meeting was a first for our Tenants' Forum and the Chief Constable's appearance was very well received.

"He was very frank and honest in the way he handled the questions put to him, and acknowledged there were problems as reflected in budgets and the performance league tables.

"But he once again stated his firm commitment to continued improvements in crime prevention by listening to and working in close liaison with communities and agencies such as ourselves.

"We are delighted that the Chief Constable has agreed to come back and conduct another open forum with our tenants. It proved to be a very successful exercise for all concerned."