MPS in Bolton have welcomed plans to give communities the power to grill the police on their battle with yobs and demand tougher action when they think they have failed.

Tony Blair has unveiled the measures as part of the latest stage of his bid to promote the 'respect' agenda.

Regular 'face the people' sessions will see police officers, council and other officials forced to detail what they are doing to tackle anti-social behaviour. And if they think problems are being ignored, local people will be able to make an official 'community call to action'.

Mr Blair's measures also include help for struggling parents.

The £70 million scheme was launched by Ruth Kelly, Education Secretary and MP for Bolton West, in Birmingham.

Ms Kelly said: 'Where parents are unwilling or unable to fulfil their responsibilities, we must ensure that they are challenged and supported.'

The new plans to deal with anti-social behaviour include:

l Increasing on-the-spot fines from £80 to £100,

l Allowing police to close premises used for 'significant, persistent and serious nuisance',

l Handing more offenders a 'conditional caution' rather than sending them to court, forcing them to do unpaid work to make amends for offences such as criminal damage,

l Setting up 50 schemes across the country by the end of the year to help deal with problem families,

l Considering introducing fines or housing benefit deductions for persistent offenders,

l Setting up a National Parenting Academy to train staff from a variety of professions, such as social workers, clinical psychologists and youth justice workers.

David Crausby, MP for Bolton North-east, said: "I think anti-social behaviour is one of the biggest issues to face us. I back these plans."

Brian Iddon, MP for Bolton South-east, said: "This policy is an extension of our policy to get tough with people causing misery in our communities."

But Cllr Andy Morgan, Conservative spokesman for civil contingencies and community safety on Bolton Council, said: "This is another headline grabbing gimmick by Tony Blair.If we are serious about tackling anti-social behaviour we have to get to the root cause of social breakdown."

The Liberal Democrat leader of Bolton Council, Barbara Ronson, added: "Often these ideas are put forward without any money to back them up. But I have no problem with trying to get together with communities to tackle anti-social behaviour."