By Anika Bourley Parliamentary Correspondent

Last updated 11:35, Friday, 09 May 2008

THE number of anti-social behaviour orders issued in Cumbria has fallen by more than a third in 12 months.

‘Right’: Inspector Andy Shaddock

Figures released by the Home Office yesterday showed that courts agreed to police and council requests for Asbos to be issued in the county in 2006 compared with 49 the previous year.

Twelve children aged 10 to 17 were among those included in 2006.

It brings the total number issued since 1999, when Asbos were introduced, to 149 in Cumbria. Asbos are civil sanctions which can be imposed on anyone aged 10 and over to protect the community from behaviour that causes alarm or distress.

The orders, which last at least two years, can prohibit offenders from committing specific anti-social acts, going to certain areas or hanging out with other troublemakers.

Breaching an Asbo is a criminal offence, punishable by up to five years in jail. Latest figures for Cumbria show Asbos were breached 118 times in 2006 – an average of 3.6 times per order and in line with national breaches.

Inspector Andy Shaddock of the north Cumbria community safety team said he was not surprised by the statistics.

He said: “I believe we now have the right orders in place against the right people in the right locations.

“That is reflected in the fact that calls to the police over anti-social behaviour have fallen by almost 20 per cent in Carlisle over the past year.

“That is the result of some positive partnership working and there is no longer the need to go to the courts to seek more Asbos.”

A toatal of 12,675 Asbos were handed out across England and Wales between April 1999 and 2006.

The figures come as Home Secretary Jacqui Smith vowed to “turn the tables” on troublemakers, urging police to crack down on individuals who ignore warnings over their anti-social behaviour.

Building on a scheme piloted in Essex, officers will be told to give those who persistently make their neighbours’ lives hell “a taste of their own medicine” by subjecting them to repeated visits, checks and warnings.

The drop in Asbo rates has been put down to an increase in the number of “early intervention” procedures designed to nip anti-social behaviour in the bud.