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

The £32,177 a year post has been created in response to the number of cases, plus nine evictions, that the council dealt with between April 2002 and June 2003.

The move was agreed at a councillors/tenants' 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 act requires landlords to prepare and publish a statement of their policies and an associated summary in relation to antisocial behaviour by December this year.

In April, 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 light of this.

Waverley Borough Council has pointed out the number of reports of anti-social behaviour for the year 2003/2004, when 131 cases were reported, was actually significantly lower than the figure for the previous year, 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 evictions, of which there were six in 2003/04 and five to date this year, were for breaches of tenancy relating to anti-social behaviour.

The spokesman said: "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 antisocial 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."