AN EMINEM fan banned from owning a stereo and a 10-year-old arsonist forbidden from possessing matches these are two of the more unusual Anti Social Behaviour Orders in force across the country.

Asbos are a powerful tool for authorities in their battle to tackle relatively minor crime which can blight communities, such as out of control teenagers, noisy neighbours and graffiti vandals.

A central plank of Labour's war against anti-social behaviour, some 3,069 Asbos have been issued across England and Wales since they came into force in April 1999.

Supporters say the orders can make a real difference for people suffering from anti-social behaviour, while critics argue that they infringe defendants' human rights, especially when they are named and shamed in the media.

Richmond police have stepped up their use of Asbos in the past year, and there are currently 19 residents in the borough under restrictions to curb their bad behaviour.

PC Joanna Watts is one of the officers dedicated to building cases against potential targets. Deciding upon who is suitable requires considerable research.

She explains: "Often when officers are out and about, people will come to their notice who are causing a lot of anti-social behaviour and they will put this on our intelligence systems.

"I search the intelligence on a daily basis. Some names come up all the time and I keep a note of these. If their behaviour continues, you can build up a picture about that person."

While anti-social behaviour is not easily defined, it is described as anything which causes others harassment, alarm or distress.

This could be someone intimidating their neighbours by throwing rubbish, vandalising an area with graffiti, or making excessive noise.

Names which frequently appear are referred to the anti-social behaviour panel, where they are discussed by a number of agencies including the police, housing agencies, variety of council departments.

This helps to build up a picture of the individual. The suggestion that Asbos have no room for rehabilitation are quietened here, for the agencies may come up with other ways of supporting offenders.

Not all of the candidates automatically receive Asbos, some people agree to sign an acceptable behaviour contract which is drawn up between them and the police or housing agency.

"These are not legally binding, but a way of trying to keep someone on course, draw them back from criminal behaviour," PC Watts says.

Post-conviction Asbos are decided by magistrates after a person has been sentenced.

Conditions are researched and proposed by PC Watts and often involve a number of restrictions on behaviour.

She explains: "It has to be reasonable. Conditions will be different for people as they appear in court. For example, people who have been convicted of graffiti should not be in possession of the materials to do it.

"We are trying to prevent them from continuing their behaviour. We have to weigh up whether police officers on the street can police these conditions reasonably, and whether the orders are proportionate to the offence."

Current restrictions in force on various individuals include bans from branches of McDonalds, the upper decks of buses, smoking and drinking in public. These run alongside more traditional bans on committing criminal damage or using threatening words and behaviour. Asbos run for a minimum of two years, and a breach can result in a prison sentence.

Police also use the orders to foil gangs of troublemakers: "If intelligence suggests that they are causing trouble together, we will try to break the group up and it does seem to work."

Orders placed on adults often result from harassment directed at one person, for example other residents at their block of flats.

Troublemakers can also be targeted with stand-alone Asbos. These often rely on evidence from people who live in the area.

"These residents should be allowed to live their lives in peace, rather than being worried by others' behaviour," says PC Watts.

Some of the criticism directed at Asbos is that they are being handed out "willy-nilly", an accusation countered by PC Watts.

"Numerous people are suggested, but some people might go through an isolated patch of offending and other things might work.

"People who have been given Asbos are people who have caused considerable damage to the community, they are not someone who has just scribbled once on a shop window."

And do they actually work? "They are very powerful. You can only see how effective they are if you do not see their names offending again, but the majority of them you do not hear about again."

Youths who are given Asbos are denied the usual anonymity granted to under 18s, in order to ensure the community are aware of their restrictions.

Critics argue that this may lead to the orders becoming a badge of honour.

PC Watts says: "That is why you do not want to give them out willy-nilly. But it is quite interesting when you are in court, you watch them being sentenced for their crime, with very little reaction, but when the conditions of the Asbo are read out, all hell breaks loose.

"They do not like being restricted, told what they can and cannot do, especially when it is for at least two years.

"All they have to do is behave in a way that is acceptable to society. Smashing windows, tagging cars, not acceptable. When you speak to officers at Richmond, they say the word among the kids is that they don't want one."