NEIGHBOURS from hell disputes could be a thing of the past on Lancaster's housing estates if a new police initiative is successful.

Police in Lancaster are planning to visit housing estates across the district in an effort to resolve some of the disputes and anti-social behaviour which are being regularly reported.

In a major operation, codenamed Bachelor, teams will speak to residents in the hope of resolving some of the issues relating to crime in and around the estates.

The initiative kicks off this week on the notorious Ryeland's Estate.

Uniformed officers will visit every address on the estate and invite every adult resident to answer a prepared questionnaire.

Chief Inspector Sarah Oldham explained: "We really want to encourage residents to participate with us to try and reduce crime and nuisance on their estate. At the same time we hope our efforts will give everybody greater confidence in the police."

The police have stressed that the survey would be anonymous but its results would be made public and available to anyone upon request.

Violent and troublesome drinkers face being banned from Lancaster's city centre pubs under a joint initiative planned by police, licensees and the local council.

Pub Watch is a national scheme which has already proved successful in many towns and cities across the country.

Now it's been introduced in Lancaster to make the city centre safer at the weekends.

The officer responsible for the centre of Lancaster, Insp Andy Rhodes, said: "Troublemakers should be aware that we are planning to crack down hard on their activities. It is only a minority causing problems and spoiling things for everyone else but we intend to root them out and they will be banned from all the pubs and clubs in Lancaster."