ANTISOCIAL behaviour on a Colchester housing estate has been given the chop – by the removal of a dead tree.

Residents in Affleck Road, Greenstead, had complained youngsters were hanging around the area and causing problems.

They used to gather underneath an old oak tree to drink and socialise in the evenings.

So, Colchester Borough Homes removed the tree and a bricked-up planter, which residents thought were attracting the youths.

Since then, council chiefs say, the problem has vastly improved.

Julie Young, ward councillor, said: “This is great news for residents.

“A couple who have lived along there for 30-odd years were having ongoing problems with anti-social behaviour for a long time.

“The area was being used as a place for teenagers to congregate and it was really blighting the lives of residents in the area.

“Since the council got involved, the situation has been turned around very rapidly.”

Karen Williams, of Colchester Borough Homes, said: “Early reports are showing young people have stopped hanging around.

“All the rubbish that was being dumped there is now not being dumped there, so we are hoping this will be the end of it.”

Mrs Williams said although there was a danger the youngsters had moved elsewhere, she hoped it would be somewhere more appropriate and not yards from people’s homes.

One resident in Affleck Road said he thought the council had done a good job, while others said the work should have been carried out earlier.

Leonard Suttenwood, 83, who lives in nearby Hawthorn Avenue, said: “The area should have been concreted over years ago because the tree was dead.”