ONE of York's most notorious trouble spots is now "crime free" - because of community spirit and clever building designs.

Figures reveal that the Tedder Road and Slessor Road estate in Acomb has undergone an extraordinary transformation following the near completion of a major redevelopment scheme.

Householders have endured years of misery as they waited to move out of their rundown former Ministry of Defence homes and into newly-built properties. They suffered persistent problems with young vandals, and had their moving day put back up to ten times.

Residents were even forced to take the law into their own hands and successfully adopted a "one out - all out" approach to dealing with the thugs. At the first sign of trouble, all householders came out of their homes and stood together to confront them.

But now Safer York Partnership has confirmed that crime has fallen dramatically at the site with incidents of criminal damage falling to zero in 2004.

The success has been put down to new design features, which aim to reduce the opportunity for crime and the fear of crime. They include security windows and doors, better lighting and boundary fencing which separate private space from public areas.

Resident Alison Parker, who suffered persistent problems on Tedder Road, said they had now put the past behind them.

"Our new houses are much safer and the estate is a much better place to live," she said.

"The community spirit has always been really strong."

Fifty-seven former MoD houses were recently demolished as part of the final phase of the multi-million pound regeneration scheme, involving City of York Council, Home Housing, Barratt Homes and S Harrison Construction.

The scheme created 150 new homes - 53 of which were affordable - from the old 98-home site, which was blighted by anti-social behaviour.

North Yorkshire Police has awarded Harrison Secured By Design approval for the site..

PC Jim Shanks, Safer York Partnership architectural liaison officer, said: "This is a first class example of how Secured By Design can help drive down crime in problem areas. Typically, a site developed in line with Secured By Design can expect crime to reduce by up to 50 per cent and initial figures have shown that the Acomb scheme has gone far beyond expectations."

Updated: 10:15 Monday, January 31, 2005