A PAIR of patrol vehicles to combat crime are rolling out on the streets as part of a commitment to crackdown on antisocial behaviour.

Stanley Town Council has funded two new vehicles that will be mobile bases of operations for the town’s Neighbourhood Wardens by day and Durham Constabulary by night.

Aimed at tackling nuisance and antisocial behaviour, environmental crime, vandalism and general low-level crime, the vans will patrol the Stanley beat by day, working to improve the town.

At night, they will help Durham Constabulary stay mobile in the town and surrounding areas, enabling officers to respond quickly to complaints and incidents.

Deputy Town Mayor, Councillor David Marshall, said: “The people of Stanley quite rightly want to see improvement to their environment and the introduction of these vehicles to tackle community nuisance is another significant move to making Stanley and its surrounding areas a safer, more attractive place.

“I’m delighted that we have been able to partner with Durham Constabulary too, as it ensures the maximum amount of benefit can be achieved from our investment in the vehicles and we can really get stuck in to improving things for all of our communities.”

Neighbourhood wardens, Stuart Champion and Dave Jarvis, believe the new vehicle will be a major boost to their efforts to clampdown on community crime.

Mr Jarvis said: “The new vehicles will help us respond quickly to any reports of ongoing incidents and also act as a visible deterrent to vandals and others who seem intent on making other people’s lives a misery.”

Inspector Dave Stewart from Durham Constabulary, said the council should be be commended for its continued investment in the vehicles which will ‘help enormously in the effort to tackle crime and nuisance behaviour’.

He said: “We work closely with the Neighbourhood Wardens and Environmental Caretakers in Stanley and the continued support of the joint use police and warden patrol vehicles will only aid that further.”