AN east Durham mother has been stripped of a number of her council house tenant rights in a bid to persuade her to deal with her unruly son.

The teenager, from Blackhall, was issued with an anti-social behaviour order (Asbo) banning him from harassing, intimidating, threatening and abusing his neighbours.

Now a demoted tenancy ruling has been imposed on his mother by East Durham Homes (EDH), the company which manages Easington District council houses. It was issued following a hearing at Hartlepool County Court.

Demoted tenancies are a new measure introduced to help local authorities deal with tenants involved in anti-social behaviour.

Introduced under the terms of the Asbo Act 2003, the agreement makes it easier for authorities to take quick action to end a tenancy if anti-social behaviour persists.

Tenants on demoted tenancies also lose the right to buy or exchange tenancies. The orders last for 12 months, but can be extended and action taken to repossess the home.

Repossession is also made easier when a demoted tenancy measure is in place because the landlord only has to demonstrate that proper procedure has been followed - they do not have to present evidence to back up their action.

Peter Chaffer, director of community and housing services said: "EDH now has a centralised enforcement team that will use whatever legal tools are available to prevent nuisance and protect people living nearby.''

He warned the tenant that she should "be under no doubt that, should anyone living in the property behave badly towards neighbours, EDH will end the tenancy completely and she will make herself homeless".