The government's plan to tackle anti-social behaviour and to introduce new penalty measures has been met with scepticism.

Ministers propose replacing ASBOs with criminal behaviour orders, which would ban an individual from certain places and activities. It also wants more powers for police to pre-empt potential criminals and confiscate items which may be used in a crime.

Crime prevention minister James Brokenshire revealed the proposals as part of a consultation on anti-social behaviour.

National Federation of Retail Newsagents national president Parminder Singh claimed the plans were a "rebranding exercise". "While we welcome the government's commitment to tackle anti-social behaviour, it is hard to see how the replacement of ASBOs with other similar measures, such as criminal behaviour orders, will amount to anything more than a rebranding exercise, or address any of the failures of the system," he said.