CLASSICAL music is to be played outside an Earby shop in a bid to prevent youths congregating.

Police Sergeant Andy Cartwright has come up with the idea in a bid to solve the long-running problem of anti-social behaviour outside the Co-op in Victoria Road.

He is hoping to send the yobs packing with the classical music, which would be piped through a loudspeaker outside.

Sgt Cartwright said similar schemes in which classical music and even Barry Manilow recordings had been played had been successful.

He said: "We've been having problems with kids hanging around the light area of the Co-op for some time.

"It's been a problem for a while and I've been trying to think of something to do about it, so we've suggested putting in on an outside speaker to play classical music.

"It may seem a bit simple and silly but I've looked into it and it's been extremely effective in other parts of the country in clearing young people and stopping them loitering around, because they don't want to hear that sort of music."

A spokesman for the Co-op said that the idea had proved successful elsewhere in the country and that bosses would be very interested in talking to police.

But cellist Ben Crick who has pioneered bringing classical music to the masses with Skipton Building Society Camerata, said he hoped the trial failed and that the children would learn to appreciate the music.

He said: "We're all about involving people in classical music who wouldn't normally listen to it. If you want to hear more come and see us play."

In other areas "uncool" pop music has been played instead of orchestras.

A list of tunes suggested by the Local Government Association earlier this year to deter anti-social teenagers has Engelbert Humperdinck's "Release Me" as the song most likely to send them away, with Lionel Ritchie's "Hello" and Cliff Richard's "Mistletoe and Wine" also making the list.

But some government officials feared then that the teens might actually grow to like them too, and hang around even more to listen.