THREE teenagers have been banned by magistrates from parts of the Loughton, Chigwell and Buckhurst Hill area for their anti-social behaviour.

Loughton police have successfully imposed anti-social behaviour orders (ASBOs) on two 16-year-olds and one 18-year-old, all from Chingford, effectively banning them from the towns where they were causing alarm and distress to residents.

For the first time The Guardian can name the two 16-year-olds under new anti-social behaviour laws and after magistrates agreed it was in the public interest.

The ASBOs were placed on Sam McKeown, 16, of Ashwood Road, Chingford Hatch, Joe Russell, 16, of Larkshall Road, Chingford, and Scott Kelly, 18, of Friday Hill West, Chingford.

The orders had been sought by Loughton police, who had gathered a long list of evidence of anti-social behaviour against the three, as part of an ongoing effort to combat anti-social behaviour in the area.

After an hour's deliberation at Harlow youth court on Friday, and despite opposition from the defence, magistrates agreed to impose ASBOs on both McKeown and Russell, banning them from entering Buckhurst Hill.

Chairman of the bench Mrs Ecclestone said: "You have acted in an anti-social manner likely to cause alarm to one or more persons not living in the same household.

"We find an order is necessary to prevent similar behaviour, lasting two years, the minimum length of time. The condition of the order is that you are not to enter the parish of Buckhurst Hill, as designated by the map, unless supervised by an adult family member.

"If you break any requirement, this is a serious offence and will be brought to the court for punishment. I must warn you, this breach may be punished with detention.

"We are not changing that fact that these things will be reported. The effectiveness of the order will largely depend upon others knowing the details of the offence," she added.

In a separate court case heard on Thursday, magistrates placed an ASBO on Kelly, banning him from Buckhurst Hill, Loughton, Debden and Chigwell for two years, and "prohibiting him for engaging in contact which causes, or is likely to cause harrassment, alarm or distress to members of the public."

The order was opposed by Kelly's solicitor Andrew Anastasiou correct, who labelled it "draconian".

Mr Anastasiou said: "This will be a breach of his human rights. You've seen the statements, they say that he was spoken to on certain occasions, and has been seen doing these anti-social things, but no charges were taken."

Loughton anti-social behaviour co-ordinator Trevor Newman said: "The general public need to know who are causing the problems in the area and need to be able to recognise these people. It helps us if they are actually in our area, committing anti-social behaviour offences if people can bring it to our attention."