DURING 2019 the popularity of the Packet's website has soared, which is a great thing.

We have seen considerable growth in traffic, with more people reading than ever before.

And that has led to the comments section on our stories becoming ever more frequently used.

One of our functions as a local news outlet is to facilitate debate.

In the pre-internet age, that would be in the form of the letters page inside the newspaper.

While that of course still exists, when it comes to our online service the comments facility performs the same function.

However, in recent months the facility has often been abused by a small number of people out of the tens of thousands who read the site every month.

The facility exists to give people the chance to have their say on the story at hand.

But, sadly, all too often it has been hijacked by a few people who wish to trade insults between each other on a regular basis - usually with little or nothing to do with the story at hand.

This is an abuse of the facility and it has led to the team here at the Packet receiving more 'comment complaints' than ever before.

It's difficult to keep up with them - and they are mostly involving the same small number of users.

This is making it difficult for those who wish to comment responsibly to do so and it is putting them off.

As editor, I have received numerous complaints along the lines of "this is making me not want to read anymore", or "another thread has been ruined".

At times, I have taken the decision to switch off threads on stories that have simply got out of hand.

I had hoped that this might get the message across.

As a small team that has four newspapers to produce every week alongside a seven-day-a-week web service, babysitting a small number of people who seem unable to have a mature adult debate without resulting to personal slanging matches is not something we have time for.

So, from now on we will operate a zero-tolerance policy.

The comments facility is a privilege, not a right, and those who abuse it will be banned from now on.

Any of the following will constitute an immediate ban:

- Personal insults aimed at another user

- Rudeness

- Hijacking a thread to turn it into a political argument

The editor's decision is final.

Steve Smith

Editor