New measures to tackle antisocial behaviour could encourage witch-hunts, a top Brighton professor has warned.

As previously revealed in The Argus, antisocial behaviour orders (Asbos) are to be scrapped in favour of criminal behaviour orders which will act as crime prevention injunctions.

Brighton and Hove is piloting the “community trigger” system, which it is hoped will make it simpler and quicker for police to take action.

But Professor Peter Squires, a professor of criminology and public policy at the University of Brighton, said he has doubts.

He said: “I was always worried that if they ever got rid of the Asbo, the Government would only be able to bring in something worse – and I think they have.

“What happened with the old Asbos was that many of them were breached, so eventually they added ‘support orders’ to help them work more effectively.

“But many of these apparently ‘dysfunctional’ people, families and parents needed support, not just to complete the Asbo effectively but more importantly to get their lives in order.

“Without the infrastructure of support, I’m worried the new orders are just setting up more failure.”

Professor Squires said there were other potential problems with the new measures, which include the provision to have five neighbours sign complaints to trigger police action.

He said: “In some respects, this runs the risk of recrimination against complainants, so there are questions about how well the police will and can respond to this. I suspect it will vary considerably from area to area.

“At the same time, it licenses and potentially legitimates a level of collective intolerance in a climate when we’ve become very censorious and judgemental about the poor and their kids – all of which goes back to deeper public policy problems, particularly inequality and social exclusion – and this could encourage local witch-hunts against unpopular neighbours. It has a ring of the lynch mob about it.”

Councillor Ben Duncan, chair of the Community Safety Forum, said: “Badly behaved neighbours destroy lives. This is why the council takes a tough stance against antisocial behaviour and employs intensive support to help families tackle the root causes of their behaviour.

“The community trigger is an interesting proposal and worth examining in a practical environment, as it could further increase our accountability to the community and help find new solutions to what are difficult problems.”

Chief Inspector Bruce Mathews, of Sussex Police, added: “Agencies and communities working together to tackle and reduce the harm caused by antisocial behaviour and hate-motivated incidents have an excellent track record of success in the city.

“We are keen to build further on these successes by being involved in piloting the community trigger here in Brighton and Hove.”