A DARLINGTON supermarket has teamed up with the town's uniformed wardens to tackle the problem of gangs of youths hanging around the store.

Asda, on the Whinfield estate, inherited the problem from the Somerfield store which traded on the site for 23 years.

Asda manager Seane Wilkinson said that because the youngsters were deterring shoppers he wanted to set up a pilot scheme with the borough council to tackle their anti-social behaviour.

Uniformed wardens now patrol the area five nights a week, including the housing complex for the elderly at Oban Court.

Mr Wilkinson said: "Sometimes people were intimidated, even though the youths were quite law-abiding and would move on if you asked them.

"Now, the wardens work with the young people to find alternative meeting places with facilities. The wardens are not employed as security officers, they are helping to enhance the spirit of the community."

He said that if there were problems, the wardens had a direct link to the police