Romsey'S first anti-social behaviour order has been slapped on a 14-year-old girl who caused trouble in and around shops in the Broadwater Road and town centre areas.

It means that Rebecca Strevens is banned from the town's bus station area unless she is accompanied by an adult over 21 and also includes a two-stage curfew. And when the order was made at Southampton Magistrates' Court, Rebecca Strevens, of Tadburn Green, was told she had been very close to being given a custodial sentence.

"You have one last chance. If you don't comply with one little bit of this order, you will go to prison," she was told.

The court heard that since being convicted of theft, jointly with others, at Romsey's Wine Rack off-licence, and burglary at the Co-op at Dukes Mill, she had failed to comply with conditions imposed on her and had not co-operated with the Test Valley youth offending team, the court heard.

The ban takes in Romsey Bus Station and the car park adjacent to Broadwater Road. Strevens has also been ordered not to engage in any conduct likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress or to incite others to engage in that kind of conduct; and to refrain from threatening, abusive or insulting behaviour or inciting others to engage in such conduct.

The two-stage curfew prevents her from being out between 8pm and 6am for the first three months of the order and between 9.30pm and 7am for the remainder of the order unless accompanied by an adult over 21.

Test Valley Borough Council's anti-social behaviour co-ordinator Vanessa Davies told the bench Stevens had acted on various dates in a manner that was likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress to one or more persons.

And in appealing to the public to report any persistent acts of anti-social behaviour to the police, their housing association or to her on 01264 368706, she said: "I believe the order and the restrictions imposed will assist her in changing her behaviour.

"She is fully aware of the consequences of not keeping the order and she now faces a custodial sentence in reality. We will continue to support Becci and her family and help her to engage successfully with other agencies and to avoid breaches not only of her ASBO, but also her supervision order.

"The community now have two years or respite from the impact of Becci's behaviour and the police and I will actively pursue other orders for anti-social behaviour perpetrators to ensure the community can sustain the right to a good quality of life."

She is the third person in the Test Valley to be made the subject of an ASBO, following the orders made earlier this year on Andover youths Theo Roberts on February 18th and Jamie Watt on August 18th.

Chief Inspector Rob Davies congratulated Test Valley Borough Council for the stance it was taking against unruly behaviour and commented: "We are not prepared to allow these individuals to continually disrupt the quality of life for members of our communities.

"This latest action by the courts sends out a clear message to those who behave in this way that it will not be tolerated and they can expect the full weight of the judicial system to come down heavily on them."