READERS are split as to whether or not a dispersal order is the best way to solve anti-social behaviour in Highworth.

On Monday we reported that the police had introduced a six-month dispersal order on the Newburgh Place, including the area in front of Highworth's youth centre.

We asked readers whether this was the best way to deal with the problems and 52 per cent voted that it was.

A group of teenagers, sometimes up to 30, hang around outside the Newburgh Parade shopping centre most evenings.

There is a youth centre but it is only open three times a week.

Many people in the area believe that this is where the trouble stems from.

The dispersal order means that groups of two or more people who are causing trouble can be moved on and face arrest if they refuse.

Last August a six-month dispersal order was introduced in the High Street area of Highworth.

It followed a spate of problems including damage to St Michael's Church and other things such as graffiti.

Police said that there was a gang of about 20 teenagers who they needed to move away from the area.

And they added that the order showed a 50 per cent decrease in reported incidents of anti-social behaviour and a 60 per cent reduction in associated reported crime.