GANGS of youths hanging around a town centre are being targeted by police in a new crackdown on anti-social behaviour.

From tomorrow, officers will have the power to split up groups of two or more people in Lewisham High Street if they are causing trouble.

Police hope the new dispersal order, which will be in place for an initial six months, will protect residents against the actions of "unruly" teens.

Under the terms of the order a police constable or Police Community Support Officer can tell people in a group to disperse and move on.

They have the power to bar youths from the area for up to 24 hours and can also ban people who do not live in the area from returning.

The new measure will be enforced by the Lewisham Central Safer Neighbourhood Team.

Lead officer Sergeant Mark Whitten said: "Residents and workers deserve some respite from the attention of unruly groups of youths.

"This order will provide us with a means of achieving this goal."

He added: "This will not affect the majority of youths who are going about their lawful business, only those intent on causing trouble."

Lewisham central councillor Andrew Milton admits there is a problem with bad behaviour in the town centre but is concerned police will adopt "heavy-handed" tactics against youths.

He said: "I'm concerned some youngsters will just be moved on for the sake of it when they are not causing any problems."

Dispersal orders were introduced as part of the Anti-Social Behaviour Act 2003.

The Lewisham order, which will be in place until November 30, was introduced by the Safer Lewisham Partnership, a joint venture between the police and the council.

The partnership says it will be "monitoring the impact" to see if it can be extended in the future.