WHETHER it is a group of youngsters kicking a football in the street, someone continually revving their car engine at night or people being drunk and abusive in public, we are all worried about anti-social behaviour.

Sergeant Chris Allen, anti-social behaviour co-ordinator for the South Worcestershire Community Safety Partnership, says the way his team deals with this type of crime has been a great success.

"We've got a very clear and determined approach to dealing with anti-social behaviour and we are quite effective," he said.

However, when Asbos are breached, Sgt Allen said people might feel the system has failed.

"You might say they don't work because people keep re-offending. However, some people enjoy living in a chaotic environment and, at the end of the day, there has to be some measure of controlling those people, and that might well be custody," he said.

Sgt Allen, one of 240 anti-social behaviour co-ordinators in the country, said: "Street drinkers are a classic example of that.

"The adults tend to be in a small group who won't listen to reason and they can be the ones who are either criminals causing the community concern, drinkers, or people with extreme behaviour that they are not inclined to curb."

Sgt Allen said there was a seasonal pattern to anti-social behaviour.

"We will see individual group actions change overnight into large group actions when the kids come back from a long summer break into the school term," he said.

"At the same time, when the nights start drawing in and the weather is turning, we see kids moving from summer spots in the parks and fields to more environmentally-friendly areas such as the Lyppards (in Warndon Villages)."

He said the key to south Worcestershire's success was its diversionary' process, where the Asbo is only used as a last resort.

"We always took a stance right from when we set up in May 2002 to have a diversionary process, where early intervention leading to diversion at its earliest stage was far better than leading on to any anti-social behaviour action in court," he said.

"If you let it get to the point where you lock them up and throw away the key - it has gone too far."

Sgt Allen's team has a three-stage approach to dealing with anti-social behaviour, which also involves registered social landlords and local authorities.

LEVEL ONE: AWARENESS

At level one an awareness letter' is sent to the adult, or parents/guardians of the youngster, warning them their behaviour is unacceptable.

Sgt Allen said these received a mixed response: "Some say my kids couldn't possibly be doing this'. Any responsible parent should want to know the actions of their youngsters."

He said the letter could explain the individual was in a group behaving badly, or identify them as someone behaving independently.

He said there was an 80 per cent success rate at this stage.

"If level one is successful, we never hear from them again," he said.

LEVEL TWO: INTRUSION

Level two involves intrusion, where officers visit the person's home to challenge them about their actions.

"Our level two process is about intrusion into the house and making the people aware," Sgt Allen said.

"There is an assessment of the situation and sign-posting of people who require help.

"The level two stage can be where we've sent a level one letter out and that's not had any effect.

"It can be where the incident is too serious to send a letter and it's usually the introductory stage for adults into the anti-social behaviour order process."

Sgt Allen says officers make it clear such behaviour will not be tolerated and serve a notice explaining this.

"We expect not to hear from them again," he said.

LEVEL THREE: FINAL STAGE

Level three is the final stage before an Asbo is made.

It involves a multi-agency meeting where evidence is shared and an action plan drawn up.

Parents are involved when youngsters are concerned.

Sgt Allen said: "We give them a very blunt but detailed explanation and description of how their life is going to go from this point should they continue displaying anti-social behaviour.

"A person has to be quite persistent and determined to get to a level three meeting. We don't go into them casually."

He said each case was an "interesting" experience.

"They range from extreme behaviour where desks have been thrown across the room, to a lady in Evesham who turned up so drunk that she collapsed in the foyer and we had to get an ambulance," he said.

"The level three process represents the last stage that people can help themselves before we consider court action."

He said receiving this type of warning can force people to transform overnight, with some offenders, who have been unemployed all their life, starting to look for a job. He puts this down to the public having a better understanding of - and fearing - Asbos. If all else fails, an Asbo is the last resort. When an Asbo is breached, it is a criminal offence and an adult can face prison.

If an area is plagued by anti-social behaviour, a Section 30 order can be made, giving police powers to disperse groups of troublemakers and force children to go home after 9pm.

South Worcestershire was the first to use this power when it placed an order on the Lyppards in Worcester's Warndon Villages in 2004 and was the first to arrest someone for breaching it.