Troublemakers in private houses will be in the firing line as Bradford Council puts aside tens of thousands of pounds to pay the costs of taking them to court.

The Council plans to use its new powers to obtain anti-social behaviour orders which result in stiff penalties from magistrates.

Home Secretary Jack Straw has criticised local authorities for dragging their heels and not using their new powers.

But Bradford led the way last month when it was the first Council in Britain to take a resident in a private house to court and successfully obtained an order against him.

Amarpreet Singh, 18, of Sycamore Close, Bradford, was fined £1,000 and ordered to pay £1,300 costs. He faces a fine of up to £5,000 and five years in prison if he breaks the order.

The court granted the order after hearing that his next door neighbours had complained their lives were a nightmare because Singh played loud music on his hi-fi.

The magistrates also banned Singh from harassing and distressing people with his music in any part of the district, especially his own street.

Now the Council is expected to set £75,000 aside from its budget to obtain other orders when people in private houses create problems.

Executive Member for Homes and Environment Councillor Jim O'Neill said the money would pay for about 100 orders.

Councillor O'Neill said people living in council houses had to keep strict tenancy rules preventing nuisance and could be evicted if they broke them.

But he said the Council had no powers to throw people out of private houses.

Councillor O'Neill said: "This is a commitment that we mean business and we are going to tackle nuisance in private houses.

"We try to give people a good quality of life and will tackle nuisance neighbours without hesitation if necessary."

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