Saying that one person in every seven believes their local area suffers from high levels of anti-social behaviour, and that the financial cost of dealing with anti-social behaviour is billions of pounds a year, Mrs May said it was time to 'turn the system on its head'.

Speaking at the Coin Street Community Centre in London, she pointed to new ASBO statistics which show breach rates have increased. This, she said, signals that 'It’s time to move beyond the ASBO.'

She linked this with a recently announced overhaul the Licensing Act, to ensure the government hopes that local people have greater control over pubs, bars and other places that sell alcohol.

And policing will change too, the coalition has said, with the aim of ensuring police officers can deal with anti-social behaviour in the way they think will be most effective, both in meeting the needs of the victim and the community, and in changing the behaviour in question.

'The radical policing reforms I announced on Monday will help to build a strong new bridge between the police and the public,' she said. 'The police should focus on what local people want, not on what politicians and civil servants in Westminster think they want.'

For the speech in full visit -

http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/media-centre/speeches/beyond-the-asbo

Labour were quick to cast doubt. Labour's Shadow Home Secretary, Alan Johnson MP, responding to Theresa May's speech said: "The Home Secretary demonstrates a lack of understanding about the powers already available to the police. An Anti-Social Behaviour Order is one of a series of different powers available to the police and is used when other punitive measures have failed.

"As we saw in the tragic case of Fiona Pilkington it was the failure to use the powers available to the police that caused the problem, not the absence of powers themselves. Of course it is right to keep such matters under review to ensure the public has speedy access to measures to stop anti-social behaviour. However, there is no doubt that the introduction of ASBOs have made a huge contribution towards tackling crime and anti-social behaviour.

"If the Home Secretary is to restrict the opportunities for the police to use ASBOs and other measures currently available then this will be yet another example of this government going soft on crime."