POSTERS and leaflets of a man who received a two-year Anti-Social Behaviour Order (ASBO) were yesterday circulated in the area he has terrorised for years.

For the past three years Gary Raisbeck has waged a campaign of intimidation against neighbours in Spennymoor, but complaints from the community are said to date back as far as 1995.

Earlier this month, the 38-year-old was ordered by South Durham magistrates to curb his behaviour, which has included verbal and physical abuse of residents of the town, or face a five-year jail sentence and, or a fine.

Yesterday's move is the first time that crimefighters in Sedgefield have publicised an Asbo served against a resident of the borough.

Anti-social behaviour reduction co-ordinator and chairman of the Sedgefield Anti-Social Behaviour Panel, Helen Stewart, said the decision to launch a publicity campaign about Mr Raisbeck was not made lightly.

She said: "It is not a naming and shaming exercise but to help enforcement of the order by informing the local community of the terms and conditions.

"The publicity will always be proportionate to the order and the historical behaviour of the individual. We hope it will act as a deterrent to the subject of the order and other potential perpetrators."

The leaflets offer advice to residents about the order and urge them report any breaches of the conditions Mr Raisbeck has been ordered to abide by.

He is prohibited from using foul or offensive words or gestures in any public place; harassing, pestering, threatening or abusing any person and inciting or encouraging other to act in an anti-social manner which is likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress to people outside his own home.

The order, which expires on January 6, 2008, covers the Spennymoor and Tudhoe areas.

Miss Stewart said: "Residents living in Sedgefield borough are living in one of the safest places in the country, but like many other areas, there is a small minority of individuals who create so much distress for others it impacts on the whole community.

"This behaviour will not be tolerated in our borough.