THE reputation of Northern life has recently taken a severe beating in the Press. Some unfairly depict anyone living North of Watford as a scrounger or layabout.

There was an opportunity to say something in support of the need for housing investment here; spurned in preference for little sympathy with "undeserving" residents of council estates. Most of these people are the ones to give the warmest welcome and as we have recently seen, the first to rally in response to community need.

It was not the fault of residents themselves that poor foresight, planning and economical factors produced the sprawling grim architecture of council estates. They did not request an invasion by a feral underclass, indeed they have no say in who is re-housed next to them.

It is easy to categorise every family by their address and the mistake is one that residents are familiar with, having experienced prejudice from every other social group. The new stigma that binds them together also makes it difficult for them to take on anything but the estate culture, or an acceptable veneer of it.

Rehousing problem tenants by deliberately sandwiching them between two decent families has been a disaster.

What took time to develop as good community relations is destroyed rapidly by it. Police are left to tend to symptoms and cannot treat the disease itself.

Housing Associations may hold the key by fragmenting estates through innovative redevelopment.

Probationary tenancies are inevitable, but the question of where to house the villains remains.

With some justification, you can imagine internment camps, although this solution would be impossible in the present political structure.

Instead of frowning down arrogant public school noses, perhaps our politicians should give us the resources so readily squandered on wars to fight the new battle here.