YOBS in York should be given antisocial behaviour orders as a "last resort" according to a crime-fighting chief.
Thugs in North Yorkshire have been handed 67 ASBOs since they were introduced in 1999. Of those, 29 were in York, and 18 were given to youngsters aged under 18.
The figures are dwarfed by those in neighbouring forces, with 190 in Humberside, 198 in South Yorkshire and 520 in West Yorkshire - meaning nearly 1,000 ASBOs have been handed out in the Yorkshire region.
But Jane Mowat, director of the Safer York Partnership, said the orders had been a success in the city.
She said: "I think they are working because it sends a message that when people are prepared to provide information about someone behaving antisocially we are actively doing something to deal with that person.
"We don't use ASBOs lightly in York and to some extent I would say that when we are using an ASBO it is as a last resort.
"We have done absolutely everything else to try and get that individual to change their behaviour.
"They will have made a lot of people's lives a misery and this is our last option."
She said she did not want to see numbers go up.
"I would like to see less of them because agencies are working together to get people to change their behaviour before it reaches that point."
Updated: 09:49 Friday, March 31, 2006
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