Bill AustinA NEW scheme aimed at tackling anti-social behaviour that will see troublemakers' photographs handed out to pub landlords has been introduced in Trowbridge.

Acceptable Behaviour Contracts (ABCs) will provide a written contract between a person, whose behaviour has been deemed unacceptable, Wiltshire Police and the Trowbridge Pub and Club Watch Scheme.

Insp Glynn Ashforth of Wiltshire Police's community safety department said: "Working in partnership with the local licensees, the Wiltshire Constabulary has issued a firm commitment to make pubs, clubs, and the streets surrounding those premises, much safer places for all.

"We hope that ABCs will only need to be used infrequently, but those people who constantly behave badly or offend will rapidly be made the subject of an ABC."

An ABC will be offered to offenders as a direct alternative or in addition to a pub watch ban and those willing to undertake it will be subject to a shorter ban from licensed premises.

Bill Austin, chairman of the pub and club watch, said: "For many years, the Trowbridge Pub and Club Watch members have supported their own 'ban' list, and this ABC scheme is a natural progression of that.

"We totally support this scheme, in the hope all licensed premises will become as safe as possible for our patrons. Those who misbehave are not welcome."

Anti-social behaviour can mean assaulting a member of staff or a customer in or near licensed premises, threatening violence to persons or property, damaging property, selling or misusing drugs or being drunk and disorderly.

When someone is identified as behaving in an anti-social manner they will be sent a letter asking them to attend a meeting with police and members of Pubwatch.

The person involved will be given the chance to sign a contract stating they will not behave in a specified way.

Their behaviour will then be monitored for a set period of time and, if the contract is not breached, it will end after that time.

Licensees will have a copy of the contracts, together with a photograph to assist identification, but the information will not be displayed publicly.

The idea for the scheme came from a Tiverton-based pubwatch group and police and members of Pubwatch in Trowbridge have spent several months researching and preparing the scheme to be introduced in the town.

The first person has already signed a contract and police hope that, after a three-month trial, the scheme will be extended to towns across west Wiltshire.