SOCIAL landlords and tenants in Torfaen should be offered more support in dealing with anti-social behaviour, the area’s AM has said.

Speaking in the Assembly this week Lynne Neagle said there had been "a big increase" in complaints about anti social behaviour from social housing residents in Torfaen.

Addressing housing and regeneration minister Rebecca Evans the Labour AM said: "In some cases they've been very serious and even life-threatening cases.

“One of the things that appears to be consistent is a reluctance to give evidence because of fear of reprisals, and whilst in recent years there’s been an increase in the use of professional witnesses to support cases, it is inevitable that they will not witness or experience the same issue as someone who is living with a situation 24/7.

“What further support can the Welsh Government offer to ensure that social landlords and tenants in Torfaen are better protected to ensure that such cases are dealt with more effectively, and even to prevent them from happening in the first place?”

Ms Evans replied South Wales police and crime commissioner Alun Michael is currently developing a resource for social landlords to deal with the issue, with a report due at the end of March.

Director of community housing and support at Bron Afon, which runs social housing in Torfaen, Ian Simpson, said the organisation's community safety and community housing teams dealt with 861 anti-social behaviour incidents over the past 12 months.

"Any extra help and support for us and the communities we serve would of course be more than welcome," he said.

"We have built up really good relationships with the police, other agencies and local politicians."

He added: “We have worked hard making sure our procedures are policies are in place and work. We aren’t complacent though and will continually work with our tenants to improve them.

"There are lots of ways to confidentially report any incidents to us, over the phone, by email or thorough our tenant portal and we encourage anyone who is witnessing anti-social behaviour to get in touch with us for advice and support."

Any issues with anti-social behaviour can also be reported to police on or anonymously to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111. In an emergency always dial 999.