ANTI-social and criminal behaviour by a gang of wild youths has prompted Police to extend a crackdown in the Rossmore area of Poole.

The news comes just days after the Daily Echo reported a new craze among youths of carrying chairs on their backs to better inflict vandalism.

Increasing incidents of criminal damage, drunken and disorderly behaviour, littering, noise, intimidation and abuse have led the police and council to extend a dispersal order.

The order, which gives police special powers to break up groups of two or more people causing anti-social behaviour, has been in place in an area covering Tesco Express in Herbert Avenue and the grounds of the Church of the Good Shepherd since July.

But it was extended from yesterday to cover much of the Bourne estate, a including Turbary Road, Melbury Avenue, Arne Avenue, Winfrith, Milborne and Cranborne Crescents, and the roads leading off them.

Police have already stepped up patrols in the area following a string of incidents in the problem hot spot.

Residents told the Daily Echo they felt increasingly helpless under the wave of antisocial behaviour.

The focus of the order is on a small group of “young adults”, according to Poole council and Dorset Police, who jointly agreed the order under Section 30 of the Anti-Social Behaviour Act 2003.

Inspector Adrian King, Poole North section commander for Dorset Police, said: “I’m confident the extended order and the extra patrols will continue to reduce anti-social behaviour and make residents safer and feel safer.”

Ian Cooke, the council’s acting community safety manager, said the persistent anti-social behaviour by the known group “will not be tolerated”.

The order runs until April 23 2010.

Anyone who refuses to comply, or who returns to the area within 24 hours, can be arrested and, if convicted, may face a fine or a prison sentence.