Spen Valley council house tenants who suffer nuisance and harassment will now be able to seek help and advice from a Kirklees rapid response team.

The new team will be in place within the next few weeks and final appointments are taking place this month. The enforcement team will be able to give a more rapid response and provide more effective support for other staff in the housing service working in council estates and local area offices.

Since 1996 issues of nuisance and harassment have largely been dealt with by area housing teams supported by a small nuisance and harassment team of two officers. But the new team will see four tenancy enforcement officers, one of whom will deal specifically with cases of racist and homophobic harassment.

Councillor Graham Simpson, Cabinet member with responsibility for housing, said: "The priorities for the enlarged team will include providing rapid response support to local housing offices to deal with urgent and serious incidents of anti-social behaviour.

"The aim will be to deal with incidents in the quickest and most effective way, preventing escalation of trouble, and instilling confidence in tenants that unacceptable behaviour will not be tolerated."