GANGS of drunken teenagers who hang around streets and intimidate the public were yesterday given a stark warning by one of the region's most senior judges.

The Recorder of Middlesbrough, Judge Peter Fox, locked up five friends who were part of a rioting mob which smashed up a Chinese take-away and assaulted the owners.

Judge Fox's hard-line approach was welcomed last night as a warning to abusive and violent teens who gather in large numbers.

And it came on the day that the pioneer of zero tolerance policing in the UK warned in The Northern Echo that yobs would soon seize control of the streets unless drastic action is taken.

Ray Mallon, the former head of CID in Middlesbrough and now mayor of the town, said: "Anti-social behaviour is now at epidemic proportions, and if the Government doesn't get a grip of it, we are heading for real problems."

Mr Mallon's words, on the eve of the Labour Party conference, are sure to be discussed by ministers and party members in Brighton this week when crime and disorder will be towards the top of the agenda.

In court yesterday, the youths - some still at school at the time of the attack - looked stunned when the judge told them: "You are all going to detention."

Teesside Crown Court heard how some of the youngsters had been drinking heavily before trouble broke out at a precinct in Stockton one Friday night in January.

Martina Connolly, prosecuting, said the attack on The Lucky Garden, at the Elm Tree Centre, came at the end of a four-month ordeal for owners Linon and Ailing Lee.

After a relatively trouble-free 14 years at the centre, Mr and Mrs Lee and their customers endured almost nightly taunts and abuse from youths who gathered outside the shop from last October.

On January 14, as many as 50 young people congregated outside the take-away and bothered staff by continually going in and out, and banging and kicking the windows.

Miss Connolly said Mr Lee was called from the kitchen by his wife to ask the gang to stop, but his arrival - carrying a knife he had been using to prepare food - sparked a disturbance involving about 15 youngsters.

Michael Hancock, 16, who had drunk two-and-a-half litres of cider and told police he was "totally mortal drunk" rushed past Mr Lee and said: "H'way then, let's torture the Chinkies."

Other members of the gang attacked the couple - leaving them needing hospital treatment for cuts and bruising - and damaged windows, furniture and equipment.

Hancock, of Midfield View, Lianne Wilcock, 15, of Hamilton Road, Adeem Khan, 16, of Rydal Road, and James Parker, 16, of Castlereigh Road, all Stockton, were given four-month detention and training orders after admitting violent disorder.

Daniel Brown, 18, of Lowick Close, who also admitted the charge, was given a heavier sentence six months in a young offenders' institution because of his age.

Ten others involved in the disturbance were given police reprimands.

Judge Fox told the five in the dock: "Of course, when you are sober, you are decent young persons.

"Word must go out to your contemporaries - other teenagers - that this sort of behaviour will not be tolerated by the courts, and people like Mr and Mrs Lee will be protected.

"Youngsters like you who drink far too much then become violent and cause such damage have got to learn that there are choices and consequences.

"You chose to get drunk, you chose to be kicking, screaming and shouting, abusive and violent, and you and others must know what follows. It's as simple as that."

Sergeant Colin Whitfield, of Cleveland Police, said afterwards: "These are substantial sentences for what was a shocking attack. The judge has shown that anti-social behaviour by gangs of youths will not be tolerated."

Wilcock, a year 11 pupil who wants to be an air hostess when she leaves school, was said to be "extremely ashamed of her actions" which were fuelled by a litre-and-a-half of cheap wine.

Warren Greer, for Hancock, who is enrolled on a mechanical engineering course, said: "He accepts he was the catalyst for the escalation of this offence, and he is totally appalled by his behaviour."

Part-time shop worker Brown's barrister, John Gillette, said: "He has deep shock at his involvement in an offence like this."

Stephen Constantine, for Khan, who wants to join the Army, said his client got involved simply to try to rescue his friend Hancock from the shop and had not struck anyone.

Jonathan Walker, for Parker, described the friends as "drunken, foolish individuals who behaved idiotically"