SCARED residents on a Preston housing estate are being told help is at hand.

The reassuring message to locals on the Tanterton estate comes from landlord North British Housing Association in the wake of a Citizen story which revealed how a young woman spent nights sitting in the dark for fear of local youths spotting she was in.

Derek Watters, housing services manager for NBHA, the main landlord on the estate, says terrified tenants should come to his organisation if they suffer abuse, and they will help solve the problem. He told the Citizen: "If this woman is a tenant, we have a duty of care to protect her.

"The area has had a reputation in the past but a great deal of work has been carried out by the police, INTAG and the residents to improve the situation." Denise Hartley, coordinator for INTAG (Ingol and Tanterton Action Group), which has been praised for helping slash crime and improve the area over the past year, said: "Anyone who is experiencing difficulties of any kind must get in contact with us. We have carried out a tremendous amount of work to improve the area and we are continuing to do so.

"We do appreciate there are still problems here. However, unless these problems are highlighted, there is little we can do to help anyone."

The INTAG group, which was set up to improve what was once a crime-ridden area, is already boasting success.

Within a year, it claims to have cut burglaries by 80 per cent and juvenile nuisance by 30 per cent thanks to a series of crime-busting plans, which have included simple things like trimming trees, closing off paths, removing benches and erecting new floodlights. A community policeman has been appointed for the area, too.

Denise added: "We are in the process of formulating a strategy for future action in a wider area of Ingol and Tanterton. The relationship between ourselves and the police is very positive.

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