A DRUNKEN teenager has been ordered to keep clear of a North-East town centre after causing months of misery for shopkeepers and residents.

Jamie Waters was a member of a gang of vagrant alcoholics who regularly used the heart of Middlesbrough's shopping precincts as their urinal, bedroom and drinking den.

The formerly homeless 19-year-old, who now lives in Portman Street, was given a two-year anti-social behaviour order (Asbo) at Teesside Magistrates' Court yesterday.

The hearing was told Waters was a member of a gang of drunks who regularly drank, shouted abuse at people and intimidated nearby elderly residents.

Waters' solicitor, Lee Goodchild, said: "He is aware that this is a serious step because it curtails his liberties.

"However, Jamie Waters is simply a nuisance. He is not violent, he is just a nuisance."

He added: "We have a picture of him being a member of a marauding group, that is not true.

"He is a young man who has had a traumatic life and has suffered emotional problems as a result.

"These are trivial matters of general nuisance and mischief. He has been convicted of crimes in the past, it's a question of how much further we punish him."

Issuing Waters with the Asbo, magistrate Christopher Bird said: "We feel it necessary to make the order to protect the public from further anti-social behaviour."

Waters, who is the fourth member of the gang to be given an Asbo, is allowed into the town centre to attend appointments with the probation service and drug treatment workers, and to visit his father.