A MAN has been banned from setting foot in Blackbird Leys for the rest of his life.

Magistrates placed an Antisocial Behaviour Order (Asbo) on David Reid, 37, after hearing about 26 convictions for offences including theft, burglary and assault in the past 22 years.

Reid is banned from ever entering Blackbird Leys the first lifetime ban for an area of Oxfordshire and will eventually be barred from setting foot in Greater Leys, where he lives.

The Asbo also bans Reid, of Green Hill, Greater Leys, from acting in a manner which causes or is likely to cause alarm, harassment or distress to any person in Oxford, from threatening, intimidating, abusing or swearing at any member of public and from carrying a knife in a public place.

Reid could be sent to prison for up to five years if he is caught breaching the order.

Police and shopkeepers have said they were delighted at the Asbo, but his mother this week branded the decision unfair.

PC Martin Wills, of the Blackbird Leys neighbourhood policing team, said: "David Reid has long been a blight on Blackbird Leys and the surrounding area.

"He has a long criminal history which covers almost every offence and he has developed a reputation as a violent, intimidating drug-abuser.

"He has literally terrorised local businesses and residents."

Oxford magistrates issued the Asbo last Thursday based on a schedule of Reid's convictions and allegations, which includes more than 20 years' worth of sentences to jail and youth offenders institutions.

He was not in court and the Asbo application by Oxford City Council and police was not contested.

Police Oxford area commander Superintendent Jim Trotman said: "He has a string of convictions for quite serious offences and continually preys on vulnerable people.

"This is a very stringent Asbo and we will be watching him and checking him extremely closely.

"He is a nasty piece of work and this is a good day for the people of Oxford."

Reid was unavailable for comment but his mother, who asked not to be named, said: "I think it's wrong. Where is he going to live? He would have to become the invisible man.

"I don't believe the council or the police are dealing with my son fairly. They don't like him and are just saying whatever they want to say."

Staff at Delteys Supermarket in Blackbird Leys Road and Spar at Dunnock Way both barred Reid from entering their shops but he regularly breached their ban.

One member of staff at Delteys said: "It's a bonus to not have him around any more.

"It will help the elderly. If there is a group of people out here with Reid they turn around and walk home because they are afraid."

A neighbour of Reid in Green Hill, Greater Leys, added: "His mum and family are lovely people, but he's been a nuisance and an embarrassment for years.

"You really would not want to meet him in a dark alley."

Reid's first conviction was for theft in January 1984.

In March 2003 he was sentenced to four years in jail for robbery.