THE POLICE and Leeds City Council have taken the extraordinary step of naming a 15-year-old Otley girl for involvement in a series of anti-social acts.

Emily Prest, of Crow Lane, has now been ordered to behave by Leeds magistrates - and could face up to five years in jail for simply carrying a lighter or matches in a public place.

The move comes after the teenager admitted her involvement in a series of incidents in the town, the details of which cannot be published for legal reasons, to the magistrates.

Under an Anti-Social Behaviour Order which will stay in force for two years, Prest is also banned from doing any of the following in the West Yorkshire area:

l Using or threatening violence towards anyone

l Abusing, insulting, harassing or threatening anybody

l Drinking or having alcoholic drinks in public

l Causing criminal damage

l Associating with a particular named individual in public

l Encouraging or inciting others to do any of the above on her behalf.

The police warned at a recent Otley Community Involvement Team meeting that they were considering adopting a 'name and shame' strategy for certain individuals suspected of repeat offences.

PC Heidi Beardsmore, of Otley's Community Policing Team, said: "This is the second Anti-Social Behaviour Order to be granted in a matter of weeks involving residents from the Otley area.

"We will continue with our positive tactics to work closely with the Anti-Social Behaviour Unit to pursue any individual who persistently causes nuisance, alarm or distress to members of the local community, or who commits crime. Anti-social behaviour is one of the most common complaints we deal with and such behaviour will not be tolerated.

"Hopefully, this result will send a clear message out to others involved in such activities that we will take strong action against those who do offend."

For the 48-month duration of the order Prest will face either a fine or up to five years imprisonment for breaching any of those conditions.

Leeds City Council Leader Councillor Keith Wakefield said he hoped the move would deter other youths from causing trouble in Otley.

He said: "Anti-Social Behaviour Orders are at the forefront of our ongoing commitment to making our streets safer.

"They back up our promise to people that bad behaviour will not be tolerated with strong, enforceable action."

Otley Town Mayor Nigel Francis, meanwhile, said he welcomed the move, and hoped it was a sign that the authorities were getting tougher with young trouble-makers.

"What people have got to realise, especially the youngsters, is that you can't have this anti-social attitude and be opposed to everything in society and do stupid things.

"I fully believe that what we need is a 'name and shame' policy and I think we should have photographs of the individuals concerned, too, because people need to know what they look like, " he added.

"It's a difficult problem because the vast majority of young people are decent and law-abiding. But for those causing trouble I'd be in favour of putting their pictures up in shops and all over town."