The Home Office has announced plans to offer nuisance neighbours a 'last chance' to turn around their behaviour, following a review of anti-social behaviour.

The review found that half of the worst hundred cases of nuisance neighbours involved threatening and intimidating behaviour, with noise, criminal damage and violence making up the other common complaints.

However, the research found that the behaviour of 39% of families and individuals targeted, improved following enforcement actions, such as warnings, acceptable behaviour contracts or eviction threats.

The Home Office survey found that of the hundred worst cases, 67% were families – half of whom were lone parents, with the remainder made up of couples with children. A quarter of the cases had also been evicted from a previous address and children from 38% of the families did not attend school regularly.

The survey also found that 29% of the cases involved mental health problems, while 27% reported drug problems.

The Home Office reported that many of these cases had been on going for several years, with the longest standing case having lasted for 18 years.

However, the survey found that many perpetrators welcomed intervention in their problems, with 30% of cases reporting that increased family support had helped, while follow-up studies showed that behaviour improved and problems were curtailed in two-thirds of the cases.

The Home Office plans to tackle the problem with the introduction of intensive family support through the TOGETHER campaign, which will be introduced in 50 anti-social behaviour action areas throughout the country and will receive £1.25 million of Home Office funding. The services provided by the scheme include; the development of family behaviour contracts, which will give repeat offenders reduced tenancy rights and force them to take compulsory parenting classes.

Home Office Minister, Hazel Blears, said: "Having nuisance neighbours may sound trivial to some, but the reality can be pure hell for the individuals and communities affected. In the worst cases, the anti-social behaviour of one of two families can hold whole streets to ransom, causing residents to live in fear of vandalism, abuse or harassment, day in, day out. We must clamp down further on the problem families, to ensure that those parents who persist in letting their kids run wild or behave like yobs themselves, will face intensive rehabilitation in 50 more areas across the country, backed by the threat of enforcement."

(KMcA/SP)