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Police are being forced to abandon a crackdown on anti-social behaviour as they struggle to cope with Tory cuts and rising terror, a damning leaked document shows.

The dossier by chief constables shows the number of orders made to curb yobbish antics has plummeted by a quarter, from 15,513 to June 2016 to 11,653 to June 2017.

The powers, of which there are six types, replaced infamous ‘ASBOs’ three years ago in a shake-up ministers promised would simplify the system.

Yet the document warns “use of these powers is reducing” because “time for proactive work to safeguard the public is under pressure”.

The six anti-social behaviour powers are Civil Injunctions, Criminal Behaviour Orders, Community Protection Notices, Public Spaces Protection Orders, Closure Powers and Dispersal Powers.

(Image: Getty)

Their falling use comes despite the number of people who’ve witnessed anti-social behaviour rising from 29% to 31% this year.

Shadow policing minister Louise Haigh said: “Anti-social behaviour blights lives and thanks to Tory cuts to the police there are simply not enough officers left to stamp it out.

“The truth is, anti-social behaviour is going through the roof because the people who cause the trouble think they can get away with it.”

The memo, marked ‘Official Sensitive’ and sent to the government by the National Police Chiefs Council (NPCC) and Association of Police and Crime Commissioners (APCC), was leaked by a worried policing leader.

It warns real-terms cuts to core budgets, which have cut 20,000 officers and 18.7% of the entire police workforce since 2010, are “exposing gaps in the protection of the public”.

The increased terror threat is “placing considerable strain on force resources,” the memo adds, with cash-strapped police already “responding from a weakened position” and at the “minimum levels required”.

It warns: “These pressures are set against the backdrop of an organisation that has experienced seven years of austerity.

“These combined challenges mean the balance between preventative and responsive activities of policing is under threat.

“The legitimacy of policing is at risk as the relationship with communities that underpins all activity is fading to a point where prevention, early intervention and core engagement that fosters feelings of safety are at risk of becoming ineffective.”

Forces have “increasing difficulty in sustaining local policing” and “the degradation of this capability is accelerating,” the document adds, predicting it will lead to increases in crime and a reduction in offender management and the protection of vulnerable people.

The dossier, which pleaded for an extra £440m in 2018/19 and £845m in 2019/20, is thought to have been sent to the Home Office last month shortly before the Budget.

(Image: Reuters)

Since then ministers have announced £450m for policing next year - but less than two-thirds is for core budgets, and it is only available if forces hike council tax.

The NPCC declined to comment on the leaked document, but last week warned the £450m “does not fully meet the level of investment that we identified as necessary”.

A second dossier by the NPCC and APCC warned Britain is behind other developed nations with £119 a head spent on policing in 2015 compared to £215 in Germany.

There are also signs of stress in the workforce, chiefs warned, after the number of officers long term sick grew 35% from 1,928 in 2013 to 2,613 in 2016.

Other cuts are having a knock-on effect as staff spend a “significant amount of time waiting for ambulances to attend incidents” - with one force counting 51 hours and 47 minutes of lost time in a week.

The dossier concluded the cash standstill is “unsustainable” and “without additional funding service levels may have to be cut further”.

Tory ministers had previously refused to provide statistics on anti-social behaviour powers saying they “could only be obtained at disproportionate cost”.

A Home Office spokesman said new anti-social behaviour powers “are being used to very good effect” and “we are very keen to encourage their continued use”.

Highlighting next year’s £450m boost he added: “We recognise demand on policing is changing, but forces must do more to embrace digital technology and increase productivity.

“We agree with Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and the Fire Service, who last month said forces can be more ambitious in driving efficiency.”