AN 11-YEAR-OLD boy who brought terror to his neighbourhood has become the youngest person in the country to be served with an Anti-Social Behaviour Order.

And today an MP demanded the youngster's identity be made public after a magistrate ruled it should not be published because he was too young.

The boy, who lives in Clitheroe, will now be banned from some areas of the town for the next two years at least.

At just 11 the youth is only one year over the age of criminal responsibility of ten.

The order, made by stipendiary magistrate Paul Firth after a two-day hearing at Blackburn magistrates, followed a string of complaints made against the boy by residents in the street where he lives.

The incidents included:

Throwing bottles and mud at windows of houses

Shouting and swearing at people in the street

Kicking passing cars

Encouraging other youngsters to smoke and drink.

Under the terms of the order the boy will now be banned from swearing, and drinking alcohol in public, and entering any private or public property he has been prohibited from by the local council or neighbours.

If he breaches the terms of the order he can be hauled back before the courts and punished, possibly with detention after his 12th birthday.

Magistrate Paul Firth turned down an application to lift a ban on naming the youngster saying he was too young and that as the people directly affected by his behaviour would know the outcome of the court case, there would be no additional public interest in identifying him.

He added: "This case is exceptional because of the boy's youth, the facts of the case and the locality.

"For these reasons I have come to the view that, while the press must be allowed to report the application, the evidence heard in court and the outcome of the application, there is nothing to be gained and a great deal to be lost by allowing any such report to identify the boy or his family."

But today Ribble Valley MP Nigel Evans said the youngster's identity should be revealed.

He said: "If this is a persistent offender then, despite his age, I believe he should be named.

"If he knows the difference between right and wrong and persists in offending he should be named.

"The whole point of ASBOs is so that people can be identified and dealt with. Naming him might just bring the child and his parent to their senses." Police and the local authority have both said they will not appeal against the order banning identification.

The Anti-Social Behaviour Order, which will last until just after the boy's 13th birthday, when it can be reviewed, was applied for by Ribble Valley Borough Council after a number of residents wrote to them complaining about the youngster's behaviour.

The application was supported by Lancashire Constabulary who said the boy had been "running amok" in the area and "terrorising" some elderly residents.

ASBOs were introduced as part of then Home Secretary Jack Straw's Crime and Disorder Act of 1998 when he encouraged the naming and shaming of offenders.

Lancashire has taken a leading role in applying to magistrates to have them granted with a total of ten so far -- seven in Hyndburn, one in Blackburn and two in Burnley.

The application against the Clitheroe youngster was made after a meeting between social services, the local council, police and Youth Offending Teams in March which decided this was the only option available to them.

The boy has also been convicted of two criminal offences -- one a sexual offence for which he was put on the Sex Offenders Register -- and excluded from school, in addition to the list of complaints from residents.

PC Hilary Gregson told the hearing of the problems the boy had caused to residents where he lived. She said: "Most residents in the street have had alot of problems with this boy shouting, swearing and running amok. Elderly residents have been terrorised by what was going on."

Inspector Bob Ford, head of Clitheroe Police, said: "Disorder in this particular road became a way of life and continued unabated. For one individual to cause so much disorder is exceptional."

Granting the ASBO Mr Firth said: "It does seem to me that it is necessary for me to take some further step to prevent as far as I am able, anti-social behaviour being committed by this boy.

"I am satisfied that it is necessary for me to make such an order and I do so for a minimum period of two years."

He stressed that as well as the ASBO, other measures such as education and social work should be put in place to keep the boy from offending.

Inspector Ford welcomed the granting of the ASBO and said: "We are quite content that this order has been granted. We have put a considerable amount of effort into working with the local authority to help the court reach this decision.

"Hopefully this will result in an improved quality of life for the residents in the area in question.

"We hope that this will serve as notice to any others involved in or considering anti-social behaviour that they will be pursued with all the resources at our disposal." A Home Office spokesman said: "We put in place the machinery for local authorities and the police to apply for ASBOs when they did not want to take the next step to criminal proceedings.

"However, any question of identity is purely a matter for the courts. We would not get involved in that."