There was something horribly familiar with what Brighton and Hove City Council's neighbourhood manager, Paul Allen, said when defending the council's handling of problems at Downland Court (The Argus, April 4).

He said: "The council is totally committed to dealing with those tenants whose anti-social behaviour affects other people."

With police getting ever more regular calls to Downland Court to deal over and over again with the same anti-social tenants and their cronies, it is fanciful saying the council is committed to anything other than pulling the wool over people's eyes.

Despite repeated complaints to the neighbourhood services manager and chief executive about the drunken behaviour of one tenant's household, continually fighting and harassing other residents (including at least one serious stabbing that took place during a binge inside this tenant's home), the council shrugged the complaints off.

And although police attended the stabbing, no investigation followed and nobody was ever charged.

While storm clouds grew steadily darker, a ward councillor was reported in The Argus as saying: "I wouldn't mind living there myself."

Later he advised 80-year-old Mrs Bartlett, who was living in fear with the drunkards housed in her block, she should consider moving into sheltered housing for her own safety.

Rather than risk rocking the council boat, he preferred removing the good parts and leave the cancer.

The real story is that the council is ducking and diving to cover up cracks its top management has manufactured.

The statement that "a very experienced housing officer" has now been appointed just won't wash.

If it does, Mr Allen is saying that since this council took control of Portslade it has short-changed us by engaging a load of loons to supervise everyday running of the estate.

In our experience, that has not been the case and the small cogs (estate officers) have worked extremely hard under trying conditions.

History says the big cogs are the real problem and changes at the top are called for.

The Housing Act 1966 gave local authorities far-reaching powers that strengthened the ground for possession based on nuisance and annoyance to neighbours in two ways.

So that it applies to behaviour "within the home and locality of the tenants' property" and covers "behaviour by visitors to the property" who may not be tenants themselves.

And, not least, the power to set up an "introductory tenancy scheme" that applies to all new tenants lasting for 12 months that makes it possible for authorities to enact the eviction process for an introductory tenant without resorting to the courts.

Common sense says that until the council adopts these powers it is not "totally committed to dealing with anti-social tenants".

-Emily Bartlett, David Cheeseman and Graham Harold, Portslade