On-the-spot fines for loutish behaviour will be rolled out to the rest of the UK following its 12-month trial in Croydon.
Croydon's penalty scheme, launched last August to stamp out anti-social behaviour, was the only one of its kind in London aimed at tackling the amount of time police spend on yob' culture.
The Home Office scheme has seen more than 230 people in Croydon issued with £40 and £80 tickets between August 2002 and April 2003.
Chief Inspector Andy Campbell, from the Criminal Justice Unit at Croydon, said the majority of the fines issued were for drunkenness and minor public order offences. He said: "We think this is a cost effective way of responding to low level offences and so far it has been successful in that only three people have requested a court hearing."
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