EVERYONE'S home should be a place of safety, a place where we can 'nest' and feel secure and peaceful, whether we share the space with our families or live alone.

So anyone who has suffered the effects of anti-social behaviour near to their home will tell you what a living nightmare it is to endure.

Instead of being at peace and relaxing at home, it can become a mental fortress.

A place where you bolt yourself in against what can be an abusive and hostile environment. The daily fear of whether your house will be physically attacked, or whether you will have to turn up the TV against a constant barrage of noise, shouting and yelling nearby, can be intolerable.

So it is good news that police are confident that the return to neighbourhood policing in Bolton gives them some means of tackling anti-social behaviour.

READ MORE: The elderly people who feel 'trapped' in their homes

Inspector Nicola Williams heads up the Bolton North neighbourhood team and says this shift towards local policing has allowed her team to pinpoint anti-social hotspots and “flood” particular areas with lots of officers.

She explained that officers are looking towards “evidence-based policing” which uses reports from the public to pinpoint particular problem areas.

So she needs to hear from residents with detailed records of bad behaviour in their neighbourhood. Start record-keeping and start reporting.