A NEW officer to tackle anti-social behaviour is to be appointed by Malvern Hills District Council.

Leading councillor Tom Wells says one of the officer's first tasks must be to tackle problems caused by young people at night in Townsend Way.

He said residents of the nearby Beauchamp Community are being disturbed by youths gathering at the retail park after the shops have closed.

"They go there in their cars, there are car radios blaring out, tyres screeching and burn-ups to the roundabout," he said.

Coun Wells said the problem had been going on for more than 12 months and there had already been meetings between the community, police and district council to discuss it.

"The people of the Beauchamp Community have had to put up with this for long enough and something must be done," he said.

"The trouble is that we're talking about anti-social behaviour which is not necessarily criminal, so it's difficult for the police to take action. Once our new officer is in place, I would expect this problem to be first on their list of things to tackle."

No one from the Beauchamp Community was available to comment.

The post of anti-social behaviour officer was approved by the council's executive board on Tuesday (June 18).

The officer will be employed for two years, at a cost of £43,400, with funding coming partly from the Safer Community Initiative and Communities Against Drugs.

Kevin Douglas, corporate director, said the officer's task would be liaison between police, social services and other agencies to tackle cases of anti-social behaviour.