YOBS will no longer be hit with ASBOs under new rules.

Home Secretary Theresa May yesterday announced a plan to scrap Anti-Social Behaviour Orders.

But Huddersfield MP Barry Sheerman last night suggested a more radical plan to tackle the problem – abolish all benefits for people under 25 years old.

Mrs May yesterday unveiled her plan to reduce the number of orders from 19 to six.

Speaking at the Association of Chief Police Officers’ annual conference in Manchester yesterday, Mrs May also revealed a proposal to allow a “community trigger” which would force police to act if five residents complained about anti-social behaviour.

She said: “We are challenging local agencies to do more to prevent crime and anti-social behaviour in the first place – lowering the burden on the police – and our new powers are available to range of agencies and explicitly include actions to change an offender’s behaviour and stop future incidents.”

Under the new proposals:

ASBOs and six related orders, including Drink Banning Orders, will be replaced by the Criminal Behaviour Order (CBO) and a Crime Prevention Injunction (CPI).

The CBO will be used against people convicted of crime while the CPI will be a civil order similar to an ASBO.

CBOs and CPIs will have a lower standard of proof, allowing them to be brought in within hours, according to ministers.

Police dispersal powers will be simplified and officers will be able to order people to leave an area for up to 48 hours. Anyone disobeying the dispersal order could face a £2,500 fine or three months in prison.

Huddersfield MP Barry Sheerman said he would keep an open mind about the Home Secretary’s plan.

“I’ve been here long enough to know that I shouldn’t jump in and say ‘this is terrible’ until we see the details,” said the Labour man.

Mr Sheerman defended ASBOs, which were introduced by the former Labour government.

“On the whole, I thought that they were useful if they were used properly,” he said.

“They weren’t always implemented in a way which made a great difference to people whose lives were being made miserable by unruly youths.”

Mr Sheerman added that the real problem was youth unemployment – and suggested a radical solution.

“There are a million young people out of work and we need to give them things to do,” he said.

“Everyone under 25 should be working, learning or training. I would abolish all benefits for under 25s. The Dutch do it and it’s the only way to tackle inter-generational worklessness.”

Colne Valley MP Jason McCartney welcomed the Government’s plan last night.

“The ASBO system is far too bureaucratic. This will streamline the system and give power back to law-abiding citizens,” said the Tory.

“This will help combat problems like noisy neighbours and people who leave rubbish in their gardens. Residents are just not able to get the response they need at the moment.”