THE success of laws banning persistent criminals from town centres has been called into question, after it was revealed a notorious thief banned from Accrington town centre after a string of shoplifting offences had been caught stealing again in a neighbouring town.

Michael James Aspin, 26, has more than 100 dishonesty offences to his name and has been a menace to traders throughout Hyndburn.

But despite the fact that Aspin, of Heys Lane, Oswaldtwistle, was banned from Accrington under an Anti Social Behaviour Order for three years last March, he has now shifted his activities to neighbouring Oswaldtwistle, a court heard.

Last year Blackburn MP and Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, praised the police and council in Hyndburn for their successful use of ASBOs in helping fight juvenile crime.

But today, Hyndburn Council leader and Oswaldtwistle councillor Peter Britcliffe, said the legislation needed to be looked at again to make sure it was effective.

He added: "We are working very hard in Hyndburn to achieve these ASBOs and we are proud of our record in securing them, but we have to make sure they are followed through.

"I think the Home Office needs to look at the law to make sure that people can't simply move on to somewhere else and start causing problems there." Aspin, who has a 'horrendous' record for theft offences, was seen stealing two bottles of vodka from the Co-operative store in Union Road, Oswaldtwistle.

Blackburn magistrates heard that, although he made good his escape, he was well known to police because of his 109 previous convictions for offences of dishonesty.

He pleaded guilty to theft and was remanded on bail until February 13 for the preparation of pre-sentence reports, which will be presented to Hyndburn magistrates.

Appearing with him, Stephen Rimmer, 32, also of Heys Lane, pleaded guilty to attempted theft of a bottle of rum from the same shop.

He was fined £50 with £25 costs.

Graham Parkinson, defending, said Aspin's record was horrendous. He said: " At one stage, he was offending almost on a daily basis and his life was a cycle of offending and custody.

"In recent times, he does appear to be improving and that is largely due to him being able to find some decent accommodation after being released from his latest prison sentence."

Aspin was jailed for 16 weeks in April after he was found in Accrington Asda -- one of the stores who had signed up to ban him from their premises -- just days after the ASBO was served.

He was banned from Accrington town centre for three years and also barred from any premises in Hyndburn which had been put on a list of places he could not enter.

Police gained the power to push for ASBOs under the Crime and Disorder Act, introduced when Jack Straw was Home Secretary in 1998, even though it is the borough council who officially apply for it.

Hyndburn MP Greg Pope, said: "This is irritating, but it doesn't mean that ASBOs aren't working.

"They are being very effective in deterring anti-social behaviour in Hyndburn and perhaps the answer to it is extending this order to the whole borough."

Blackburn MP and Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, said: "It is a matter for the courts how they are enforced.

"They are not a perfect instrument, but the evidence is that they are working."