A DEVICE put up to disperse troublesome youths outside a shop on an Oxford estate has only been a partial success, according to the shopkeeper.

The shopkeeper, who has asked not to be named for fear of reprisals, at the Premier Supermarket, in Pegasus Road, Blackbird Leys, suffered months of anti social behaviour, gangs of youths intimidating customers, drinking, drug dealing, smoking and littering outside his shop.

To combat the problem, the inventor of the Mosquito, Howard Stapleton, decided to trial the device in a new way.

His gadget emits a high-pitched buzzing noise making it uncomfortable for under-25s to hear for more than 10 minutes and encourages them to leave the area.

For the first time, Mr Stapleton hooked it up to a CCTV camera, and turned on the gadget only when it was needed.

But the shop owner said he had noticed a slight improvement, but that one group of youths seemed unaffected by the noise.

The shopkeeper said: “They are still hanging around, it is just one group. It’s good for the weekend when other kids come, and when some girls come and we turn it on, they tend to go away. But this big problem is this one group. They don’t seem affected by it.

“There has been a little improvement, but not much.”

Mr Stapleton said: “We operated it 20 times in the first two weeks, but it has been a great success. Since then, the problem seems to have resolved itself.

“We haven’t had any complaints about the device.

“The idea of CCTV monitored Mosquito installations looks like the answer to our critics about the device being indiscriminate. We can now insure that the device is only used when required and only for the minimum duration.”

Each time the Mosquito was switched on, it buzzed for less than 10 minutes, before the teenagers began moving away he said.

One Friday night, Mr Stapleton said he had been alerted by the shopkeeper that teenagers were loitering outside the entrance to the shop.

He said: “There were around 15 youths loitering around the entrance to the shop so I turned the Mosquito on for just five minutes and the group moved away.”

Blackbird Leys Sgt Rob Axe said: “It would appear to be having the desired effect.”

Mr Stapleton has faced criticism from human rights group Liberty, which has branded the technology ‘degrading and discriminatory’.