Youngsters behaving badly in parts of Margate can be removed by police, barred from returning for 24 hours and taken home to their parents if they are out after 9pm.

The crackdown will start on Friday (January 30) when a dispersal order is imposed in the AMF Bowling and College Walk car parks as part of an attempt to improve the area.

The new powers for police have been obtained following concerns from local people anxious about anti-social behaviour by youngsters, some in cars.

The move also follows a successful dispersal order trial in the Leopold Street multi-storey car park in Ramsgate in December.

The six-month order will allow officers to break up groups of troublesome youths and arrest any who return to the area within 24-hours.

PC Sue Luck, anti-social behaviour officer for Kent Police, said: "There are groups who congregate and drive and ride their vehicles around these sites in Margate. This dispersal will enable us to deter them and at the same time the work can begin on clearing up."