A new housing liaison officer will be appointed by Wandsworth Council in a bid to tackle drug problems on housing estates in the borough.

The role of the new officer will be to locate trouble spots and provide a series of measures to help deal with the problem. Although council officials maintain estates in Wandsworth do not experience any serious trouble with drugs, they have pledged to identify and tackle any drug problems which do arise.

York Road 1 and Winstanley housing estates in Battersea will be the first to benefit from the scheme when the officer takes up the post in January.

A number of arrests have been made following drugs raids in the last few years on both estates.

The officer will work with several agencies including the council's housing department, the police, youth offending teams, and the probation service, to tackle drugs and reduce crime.

Cabinet member for housing, Councillor Carol Humphries, said: "This new post will act as an additional tool in our borough-wide fight against drugs and crime."

November 30, 2001 11:00