SOUTHAMPTON has today been chosen to spearhead government plans to crack down on antisocial behaviour.

The city was picked as one of 40 councils including Portsmouth and Bournemouth across the country to receive extra Home Office cash to tackle the problem.

The move is part of Tony Blair's Respect agenda - a nationwide strategy against antisocial behaviour and nurturing a culture of respect.

The city made the bid to become a Respect Action Area at the end of last year.

Having the status means that extra support and advice from the government's Respect Task Force will be available including parenting training for up to ten council officers.

Additional funding will be specifically targeted to support families and parenting projects, although the amount has not been revealed yet.

Some £50,000 will recruit a so-called "Super nanny" (senior parenting practitioner), providing parenting classes for troubled families and direct council intervention from pointing out help to setting up acceptable behaviour contracts - the forerunner to an ASBO.