POLICE have admitted they need to work harder to tackle anti-social behaviour in a rural town.

The acknowledgement came during a public meeting at Stokesley town hall on Monday, attended by 100 people.

Frustrated and angry residents questioned how effective the police were in reducing anti-social behaviour and improving their quality of life.

They were joined by representatives from the parish, district and county councils, Broadacres housing association and the headteacher from Stokesley School.

Residents said crime was not captured on closed-circuit television; calls to the North Yorkshire Police call centre number were not being dealt with properly; and pubs with late licences created problems after hours with adults being rowdy in the street.

Boys and girls, some as young as ten, were the main cause of problems, sometimes congregating in groups of 25.

One woman said she felt "besieged" in her home at night because of youths outside.

The main problem areas in the town are Silver Street, West Green, Levenside, The Stripe, North Road, and the passageway between Station Road and the leisure centre.

Neasham Wood was said to be a magnet for youths, drinking and taking drugs and starting fires.

Parish councillor George Carter, who chaired the meeting, said: "To be honest, I was not expecting the police to say anything except the usual platitudes. Then what actually happened to my surprise was that the police said 'yes we have done a bad job so far'."

Inspector John Richardson agreed there had been an upsurge in anti-social behaviour over the past couple of months, but staffing problems meant his officers hadn't been able to take a proactive approach to the problems. However, he pledged to crackdown on offenders.

"If they cross the line, we will deal with them. We are not going to tolerate this behaviour towards the public.

"I was aware of a lot of the problems, but the passion that went behind it was encouraging. A community that is passionate is one that can get things done. I would rather deal with passion than with apathy."