More than half of all region’s asbos breached

A total of 1,223 asbos were handed out between June 2000 and the end of December 2009 in the North-East and North Yorkshire.

However, 794 – 65 per cent – were breached at least once and 610 were breached at least twice.

The figures released by the Home Office show 163 women and girls received asbos during the ten years.

In Cleveland, three ten and 11-year-olds were given an order. All three later breached it.

On average, recipients in the region breached their order more than four times.

Asbos are due to be abolished by the coalition Government.

Home Secretary Theresa May ordered a review in July last year, saying it was “time to move beyond the asbo”.

She is hoping to introduce simpler sanctions that focus on rehabilitation, rather than hard-line measures that were “criminalising and coercive”.

The orders were launched in 1998 by Tony Blair’s Labour government, to be imposed after minor incidents that would not normally warrant prosecution.

Labour has rejected claims that the flagship policy was a failure.

Labour’s Helen Goodman, MP for Bishop Auckland, said last night that the measure was introduced when there was a real need in communities to deal with yobbish and anti-social behaviour.

She said: “People have a right to live their lives free of anti-social behaviour and asbos were just one of the tools used to combat the problem.

“There are worrying signs that this Tory-led Government is out of touch with people and doesn’t understand the practical steps needed to keep crime down.”

A Home Office spokeswoman said the current tools and powers for dealing with anti-social behaviour were too bureaucratic and did not work effectively.

She said: “These statistics on asbos, for example, show that 56 per cent of those issued have been breached, many more than once.

“We will soon be consulting on new proposals to tackle anti-social behaviour following our review of tools and powers.”