When the Conservative council was elected last May we promised to take early steps to make Croydon safer and tackle the disproportionate fear of crime among residents.

Now that we've been able to sort out the financial mess we inherited, we've been able to look at future priorities - and tackling antisocial behaviour remains top of the public's agenda.

I'm delighted, therefore, that we have been able to announce the introduction of high profile, uniformed, neighbourhood enforcement officers to every ward in the borough. Fully integrated within the police safer neighbourhood teams, these officers will have unique civil powers to clamp down on the kind of unsavoury activity that causes problems to so many people.

They will also focus on diverting youngsters away from being a nuisance and do something useful instead.

We're putting up £1million to fund this initiative - the first of its kind in London. The first 10 officers going out on the streets later this year.

And as an additional step the council will be fully funding a six-strong support team of police officers and police community support officers that will be available for rapid deployment in the town centre.

This represents a significant investment on the part of the council, but one that we believe will be worthwhile to maintain the fight against crime.

COUNCILLOR STEVE O'CONNELL Deputy leader and cabinet member for public protection and crime reduction Croydon Council