The recent eviction of some problem tenants will come as a welcome relief to their neighbours.

For anti-social behaviour makes people’s lives a misery, and this is especially so when it takes place close to their homes - as there is no escaping it.

But while some people can now look forward to a good night’s sleep, there will be many others across the district who cannot.

Imagine the sort of things they have to endure - every night disturbed by rowdy behaviour, noise and vandalism, and requests for calm being met with a volley of abuse.

Removing from neighbourhoods those who cause this sort of misery can only be a good thing.

But surely much of what can constitute anti-social behaviour or lead to eviction (threatening behaviour, disturbing the peace and vandalism, for example) is also against the law?

And where that is the case, couldn’t the police turn up and arrest those responsible and get them before the courts?

It should even be possible for them to calm the situation down and return the next day to take them into custody after tensions have eased, thus avoiding any risk of making matters worse.

All too often, however, it seems the option of using criminal law to tackle such problems is overlooked.

Yet while evicting people from homes can be an effective way of tackling neighbours from hell, fines and jail could be another.