TEENAGERS who indulge in anti-social behaviour in a New Forest town are being told to mend their ways - by people their own age.

Members of the Totton based Garage Youth Centre (GYC) have launched a campaign aimed at persuading fellow youngsters to turn over a new leaf.

One of their first tasks is to discourage children from terrorising old folk on Hallowe'en night this Friday.

They also hope to achieve a significant reduction in litter, vandalism and graffiti - all of which are a huge drain on the public purse.

In Totton the annual cost of litter collection is £100,000 - money that could otherwise be spent on providing better facilities for the town's teenagers.

The GYC project has been launched with the aid of Totton and Eling Town Council.

Town clerk Derek Biggs said the youngsters would visit Asda on Thursday and stage an exhibition highlighting the distress caused by Hallowe'en pranks.

He added: "One of the council's objectives is to achieve a reduction in antisocial behaviour.

"Youngsters are losing out because so much money is being swallowed up by things such as litter collection."

The campaigners Ben Spafford and Tony Tizzard, have written an open letter to the people of Totton. It states: "We hope to make them aware of how much it costs to repair all the stuff they damage, how much it costs to deal with antisocial behaviour and the amount of money that has to be spent on tidying things up."