A LANDMARK High Court case in which a 15-year-old boy successfully challenged the legality of child curfew zones has raised questions about the way that Hampshire police are able to deal with young yobs.

The boy from London challenged the police and a local council's use of child curfew zones to escort under-16s home if they are spotted in the restricted area after 9pm, whether they are behaving badly or not.

In Hampshire there are 17 such zones set up to tackle anti-social behaviour and the police will be carefully reviewing what the High Court challenge means for them.

It comes just days after former soldier, Nigel Hounslow, 37, from Holbury was handed a suspended sentence for attacking a 14-year-old boy he spotted damaging the family car.

His sentencing sparked a public outcry with many people saying more should be done to disperse yobs.

Sgt Alistair Nichols, of Hampshire Constabulary's community safety department, said that the High Court challenge was against a subsection of the Anti Social Behaviour Act 2003 that they rarely used.

He said: "We will be looking at the court report when it is released to see what it means for us. It will not mean the end of dispersal orders and we need to reiterate that. This boy has challenged a small section, an extra power that means the police can escort a minor home if they are out on their own in the curfew zone. It is not a power we use regularly and may have used it on a handful of occasions over the past two years."

There are currently five dispersal order zones in Southampton, one in Fareham and eight in Portsmouth.