EXACTLY a year ago today, former soldier Glenn Stephenson told the Evening Press about the misery of living in Etty Avenue. He had seen active service in Northern Ireland, Bosnia and the Gulf and knew exactly what he was talking about when he described the York street as "a real war zone".

Racist thugs had hurled eggs and bricks at his German wife and their children in a terrifying campaign of hate.

A few days later, police were involved in running battles with youths on Etty Avenue. Some residents sat in their gardens drinking beer and watching the clashes. They were treating the violence as a spectator sport. It seemed like Etty Avenue was spiralling into a lawless abyss.

At the time the council and the police stressed that they were working together to improve the situation. "The problem will only get better when we all fight it together," said John Lacy of York police.

For residents caught in the nightmare, those words might have sounded hollow. In fact, the council and police have been true to their word. Twelve months on, peace has been restored to the Etty Avenue war zone.

The louts thought they could terrorise neighbourhoods with impunity. New powers and a new determination on the part of the law enforcers has made them think again.

The council gathered enough evidence from Etty Avenue families to evict the neighbours from hell, while the police targeted the local gang leaders. Their labours were backed up by the courts who deployed the new anti-social behaviour orders to good effect.

Thanks to this team effort, fear has been evicted from the street along with the troublemakers. Etty Avenue - which suffered a further insult by being featured in the TV licence "name and shame" adverts - can now begin to rebuild its good name.

Meanwhile the authorities have turned their attention to the yobs on the Chapelfields estate, as we reported yesterday. We hope this operation enjoys similar success.