BIDS to the Government are being prepared by Croydon Council to help social recovery in the borough on the back of last August's riots.

Since August the council has been working to rebuild the infrastructure of the parts of the town worst affected by the troubles.

And it has been granted £23m to help both with this work and to introduce measures to aid economic recovery and attract new investment.

But a report on the recovery process being presented to Monday's cabinet meeting by chief executive Jon Rouse says overall recovery is not just down to physical and economic regeneration.

It is also essential, the report says, that ways of dealing with social problems in the most deprived parts of the borough are tackled.

These include criminal activity and antisocial behaviour; the need for more school places; problems from dysfunctional families; housing needs; financial problems and skills and employment opportunities.

Council leader Mike Fisher said this week: "Improving the infrastructure and making sure Croydon is even better than it was previously are vital to restoring confidence."

But he added: "Social recovery is equally important, making sure that some of the underlying issues which may have contributed to some of the problems in August are tackled as well.

"We don't want to spend £23m on the town centre to attract people and then find in two or three years' time the same sort of problems recur."

Mr Fisher said the council was already working with Croydon Voluntary Action – the umbrella group for volunteer organisations – on ways of approaching social recovery.

He added that the Department for Communities and Local Government had also announced a new fund would be made available in April to help areas hit by the riots tackle social problems.

Mr Fisher said: "We are intending to make a bid for money from the fund."