POLICE have hailed the success of so-called exclusion zones set up in parts of Southampton in cracking down on anti-social behaviour.

So pleased are officers with the reduction of nuisance behaviour incidents that they are considering extending the zones to other areas of the city.

In the week since the dispersal orders were implemented in Irving Road in Millbrook, Bitterne Precinct and Hinkler Road in Thornhill, officers have recorded low levels of anti-social crime.

According to preliminary figures there were no significant problems reported in either Irving Road or Bitterne precinct - a statistic officers put down to the publicity of the new zones.

In the Hinkler Road area, more than 20 people have been moved on using the dispersal orders but no one has been arrested under the new powers.

As reported in the Daily Echo, police set up the zones in hot spot areas where anti-social behaviour was identified as a problem.

The powers mean that police can ban people gathering in groups of more than two who are behaving anti-socially in a designated zone for 24 hours.

If they return they risk arrest and up to six months' imprisonment. Under-16s can also be returned to their homes by officers if they are found wandering the streets between 9pm and 6am.

A spokeswoman for Hampshire police said it was a case of so far so good for the new orders.

She said: "The areas around Irving Road and Bitterne precinct have been very quiet and this is believed to be the result of the orders.

"People don't seem to be gathering in their numbers as they did before.

"At Hinkler Road police have moved on over 20 people under these new powers, some of whom were repeat offenders.

"From the first week these dispersal orders do appear to be working and we will be looking to extend them to other areas of the city."