Vale of White Horse District Council
Abbey House, Abbey Close,
Abingdon, OX14 3JE
Email: comments@whitehorsedc.gov.uk
Telephone: 01235 520202

Vale of White Horse District Council

Anti-social behaviour

Addressing anti-social behaviour is one of the main ways in which the Council can help achieve its aim of reducing the fear of crime. 

What is anti-social behaviour?

Anti-social behaviour is any activity that impacts on other people in a negative way. Examples of anti-social behaviour include:

• Nuisance neighbours
• Rowdy and nuisance behaviour
• Intimidating groups taking over public spaces
• Vandalism, graffiti and fly-posting
• Fly tipping and abandoning cars
• Anti social drinking
• The misuse of fireworks
• Racial and any other acts of harassment.

What is the Council doing to tackle anti-social behaviour?

The Community Safety Team works closely with Thames Valley Police, Vale Housing Association, the Council’s Housing Service and Environmental Health Department, Schools, The Youth Service, Parish and Town Councils to tackle Anti-Social Behaviour. This may include working with the Police to issue Acceptable Behaviour Contracts (ABCs) and Anti-Social Behaviour Orders (ASBOs) which can help to effectively address these problems and can be obtained on several grounds.

What is an Acceptable Behaviour Contract (ABC)?

An ABC is a voluntary written agreement between a young person, who is usually aged between 10 and 18, and the local police. Under the ABC, the young person agrees not to be involved with certain specified anti-social acts.

The terms of the ABC are developed and agreed with the young person in an interview. The young person signs the contract in the presence of their parents or a guardian and a representative of the local police.

The contract normally lasts for six months. It is not legally binding but if breached can be used as evidence if enforcement action needs to be taken through the courts.

What are the benefits of using an ABC?

ABCs aim to ensure that young people who behave anti-socially take responsibility for their actions and improve their behaviour.

They are made aware of their impact on other peoples’ lives and warned of the possible consequences to them and their family, should their anti-social behaviour continues. Our first priority is to stop the bad behaviour and to ensure that the young person understands the impact that their behaviour is having on the community.

What happens if the contract is broken?

Serious breaches of the ABC may lead to enforcement action. This may include applying to the court for an Anti- Social Behaviour Order.

What are Anti-Social Behaviour Orders (ASBOs)?

ASBOs are civil orders granted by a magistrate’s court to protect the public from anti social behaviour. ASBO’s are used as the last resort, after warning letters, mediation and ABC’s have failed to stop the behaviour. If breached, an ASBO becomes a criminal offence for which the maximum penalty on conviction is five years imprisonment, a fine or both.

Following reports of anti-social behaviour, the Council and Police ask the complainant to provide confidential incident reports to help identify the person/people responsible. 

How to report anti-social behaviour

You can report cases of anti-social behaviour by:

• Visiting the District Council offices - for maps showing where the Council's offices are please see How to find our offices
• Contacting the Community Safety Partnership directly by telephone on 01235 540309 or 01235 540537
• Filling in our online form - see the form on the right
• If your complaint is related to your tenancy you could contact your landlord directly.

If the anti-social behaviour is serious enough to make you fear for your safety or the safety of others, you should contact the police directly 0845 8 505 505, or 999 if it is an emergency. 

For more information about anti-social behaviour, including the different ways in which you can report it, please view or download our leaflet from the right of the page. For details about how your report of anti-social behaviour should be dealt please see the Minimum standards of response document, which is available from the right of the page, along with details of the Vale Community Safety Partnership's procedure for dealing with complaints that anti-social behaviour has not been addressed.