WAVERLEY councillors have taken the first steps towards appointing a full-time antisocial behaviour officer in response to 180 cases of antisocial behaviour in just over a year.

The £32,177 post has been created after the council dealt with 180 case of antisocial behaviour and nine evictions between April 2002 and June 2004.

The move was agreed at a councillors andtenants' committee meeting and is likely to be agreed by the council's executive committee next month.

The report was proposed in light of the Antisocial Behaviour Act 2003 and the Antisocial Behaviour: Policy and Procedure Code of Guidance for local housing authorities and housing action trusts.

The Antisocial Behaviour Act 2003 requires landlords to prepare and publish a statement of their policies and an associated summary in relation to antisocial behaviour by December this year.

On April 15, 2004, the council formally adopted its policy on antisocial behaviour and harassment for tenants of Waverley Borough Council.

However, the Antisocial Behaviour Act 2003 laid additional requirements on the council and the policy has been reviewed in the light of this.

Waverley has pointed out the number of reports of antisocial behaviour for 2003/2004, when 131 cases were reported, is in fact significantly lower than the figures for 2002/2003, when there were 235 cases reported.

A Waverley spokesman issued the following comments: "Reports about noise have steadily increased over the last three years. In 2002/03 reports of noise accounted for 38 per cent of complaints, while in 2003/04 they made up 42 per cent, and for the first quarter of this year 55 per cent of the complaints received have been about noise."

She added: "Reports of violence are decreasing while reports about racial incidents, domestic violence and animals have remained static.

"The nine evictions, six in 2003/04 and to date five in 2004/05, were for breaches of tenancy relating to antisocial behaviour. It is not possible to pinpoint antisocial behaviour to one estate or area as it occurs all over the borough.

"The Antisocial Behaviour Act 2003 has given Waverley more tools to deal with anti-social behaviour. To raise awareness of these new powers and to encourage people to report incidents, Waverley has held a workshop and tenants' conference.

"Reporting of incidents has subsequently increased, with 103 cases reported so far this year."