POLICE powers to tackle drunks and young yobs have been extended to help Weymouth have a peaceful Christmas.

A Section 30 dispersal order, which allows officers to break up groups of people likely to cause trouble in town, has been reintroduced.

Starting tomorrow and lasting until mid-January, the order permits an officer in uniform to direct potential troublemakers to leave an area and not return for up to 24 hours. People who fail to comply can be arrested and face a fine or a prison sentence.

Dorset Police has teamed up with Weymouth and Portland Borough Council to secure the powers to clamp down on incidents of anti-social behaviour which often involve drunken teenagers, boy-racers and vagrants.

The area covered by the order includes the shopping streets and seafront, the harbour and Nothe Gardens, Jubilee Retail Park, Greenhill, the land around the magistrates' court and Asda supermarket, and a section of Westham off Abbotsbury Road.

In addition this order, the ninth of its kind in the town centre, will also cover Chapelhay.

Sergeant Nikki Billington, who is responsible for dealing with anti-social behaviour for Dorset Police, said the previous order expired in October.

Since then there have been numerous incidents where a dispersal order would have been beneficial, police say.

Sgt Billington said: "When a dispersal order expires we look at the effectiveness of the previous order and ascertain if a new one is needed. We also review the boundary.

"It was quite clear from the number of incidents reported that a new order was absolutely necessary.

"The boundary has also been extended slightly to include parts of Chapelhay where problems were emerging."

She added: "The aim of a dispersal order is to prevent low-level nuisance from escalating into something more serious, or even better, to prevent it from happening in the first place.

"We are not trying to stop people having fun - this is about drawing the line at an appropriate place."

Section 30 orders have helped police nip trouble in the bud in other parts of West Dorset including Portland, Bridport and Dorchester. In October, Littlemoor in Weymouth became the first housing estate to get an order slapped on it.