Police in three areas can now give on-the-spot fines for antisocial behaviour.
Officers will be able to impose penalties of £40 or £80 for offences such as harassment, being drunk and disorderly, obstructing a highway or making hoax phone calls to the emergency services.

The fines are designed to reduce the time police officers and courts spend dealing with relatively minor offences.

The pilot schemes have been introduced in the West Midlands, Essex and Croydon in south London. A scheme in North Wales is expected to start in September. If the one-year trials prove workable, the scheme could be extended across the whole of England and Wales.

Tim Winter, group national organiser of the Social Landlords Crime and Nuisance Group, welcomed the introduction of the fines. He said: “This is another tool that could be appropriate at times to combat antisocial behaviour.”

Critics have said the fines will be impossible to implement.