Gangs of yobs intimidating shoppers will be blasted with Beethoven in a bid to stop them congregating.

Up to 60 drink-fuelled teenagers regularly gather at the bandstand in Worthing town centre on Friday and Saturday nights.

Traders hope to raise £6,000 for a sound system to scare them away with classical music favourites such as Beethoven's Ninth Symphony and Vivaldi's The Four Seasons.

Worthing policeman Rob Bowden, the brainchild behind the idea, said: "Youths simply don't like classical music.

"It's ironic that an old composer like Beethoven can have such an effect on the youths of today. If it was rap music they would be there all night."

The idea comes from the United States, where convenience stores introduced classical music as a way of deterring youths from congregating at night.

PC Bowden said: "Teenagers have been using the bandstand as a youth club. A few have been arrested for being disorderly and many others have been on the verge of getting arrested.

"The town centre is an alcohol-free zone but youths hide alcohol in cola bottles."

PC Bowden spent a night in May playing Classic FM through the loud-hailer of a police van.

The experiment proved so successful that the group had dispersed within an hour.

The Worthing Town Centre Initiative, made up of businesses in the area, has pledged to install a permanent sound system at the bandstand.

The music would be kept quiet enough so residents were not disturbed.

PC Bowden said: "We had one complaint about the music from a resident but he agreed it was better than hearing people swearing and smashing bottles."

On many weekend nights up to six police officers are deployed at the bandstand but they are not able to deter the youths.

Two months ago, The Argus reported groups of youths were abusing staff and throwing furniture around at the town centre McDonald's.

The restaurant now has to employ security guards. Since June it has also been playing a compilation tape of classical music on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights.

McDonald's spokeswoman Alison Purves said: "Classical music creates a family- friendly atmosphere and we've had no major incidents since June.

"There are certainly far more customers, particularly families, coming into the restaurant."

Town centre manager Sharon Clarke said: "Large numbers of youths can be intimidating for couples and families with young children.

"Rather than getting something to eat after shopping they are leaving the town quickly but classical music will deter groups of youths from getting together in large numbers."

Beethoven and thuggery have a shared history in British cinema.

The composer's Ninth Symphony features throughout Stanley Kubrick's 1971 masterpiece A Clockwork Orange, which follows the rehabilitation of a sociopath.

The film's most controversial scenes show a gang of thugs raping a woman and beating up a tramp to the symphony.

The film's tag line is: "Being the adventures of a young man whose principal interests are rape, ultra-violence and Beethoven."

And in the 1992 Brian Levant film Beethoven, a vet plots to kill a St Bernard dog.