A dispersal order to combat anti-social behaviour in Queen's Way is to be extended until next May.

IPSWICH: A dispersal order to combat anti-social behaviour in Queen's Way is to be extended until next May.

The order has already been in force for five years and has proved successful according to police, who have extended it after residents in the area were surveyed.

The South East Ipswich Safer Neighbourhood Team (SNT) partnership met and agreed the dispersal order, which was introduced in September 2004, should remain in place.

Superintendent David Skevington, the operations manager for Ipswich, has authorised the notice to continue from November 17 until May 2010.

The order was put into place as a result of high levels of anti-social behaviour affecting the community.

Dispersal orders give a senior police officer the power to designate an area, with local authority agreement, where there is persistent anti-social behaviour and a problem with groups causing intimidation.

Officers have the power to disperse groups where their presence or behaviour has resulted, or is likely to result, in a member of the public being harassed, intimidated, alarmed or distressed.

The individuals can then be excluded from a specified area for up to 24 hours.

Inspector Mark Lewis of the South East Ipswich Safer Neighbourhood Team said: “The dispersal order has been an extremely effective means of enabling our SNT to tackle the high levels of anti-social behaviour occurring in the Queen's Way area.

“The purpose of our SNTs is to engage with communities, listen to their views and respond to the issues they identify as having a negative impact on their daily lives. These communities were consulted on the review of the dispersal order in October, and although they were positive that the level of anti-social behaviour had reduced, the overwhelming response was that the order was needed to keep the behaviour under control.

“The results of the survey were very interesting. One of the main factors to come out of the results gathered was that 163 residents were in favour of the dispersal order remaining, with only two stating that it should be lifted.”

Last month another dispersal order was implemented to coincide Halloween in the Whitehouse area.