Dispersal orders, which allow police to break up intimidating groups of people from pre-designated zones, have created an increase in crime in neighbouring areas, notably criminal damage, by up to 83 per cent according to the first major study of the dispersal orders.

The orders did produce a short-term reduction in crime in the problem areas, in one area crime fell 39 per cent but sometimes this was only for the duration of the order, the study, which focused on Leeds and Sheffield, said.

Professor Adam Crawford, of the Centre for Criminal Justice Studies at the University of Leeds, said: “Unless dispersal orders are part of a wider, multi-agency strategy to provide alternative activities and venues for young people, the powers merely put a sticking plaster over local problems of order and invariably fail to address the wider causes of perceived anti-social behaviour.”

Researchers found that young people felt they were unfairly targeted by the dispersal orders.

Under The Anti-Social Behaviour Act 2003 police can send home any young person under 16 who is out in the dispersal zone after 9pm. In one area, more than half of young people said the dispersal order had a negative impact on their feelings towards the police.

The study found a decline in young people congregating in the dispersal zones during the use of the order and some residents reported feeling more confident about going out in the area.