Nearly three quarters of people questioned think a dispersal order on an Oxford estate has just shifted the problems a few streets away.

The order - Oxford's first - was introduced in Rose Hill and at Iffley Lock in August and allows police to move on or break up groups congregating in certain areas.

But two months later, 74 per cent of those surveyed when the mobile police station visited the estate thought it had pushed the trouble to streets outside the dispersal zone.

Area beat officer Pc Ben Henley said that while 74 per cent of people thought gangs had stopped gathering in the dispersal zone, calls complaining about gangs just outside it had increased from 38 in the two months before the order came in, to 61 in August and September.

The police survey showed 91 per cent of people were in favour of extending the zone's boundaries.

He added: "Even though we have tackled the main problem area and more people are going to the shops and so on, we don't want the gangs to go elsewhere and cause problems. That issue needs to be addressed and will be addressed."

Pc Henley said officers did not want to extend the zone boundaries as it would leave young people with nowhere to go.

He said they would instead be looking at stepping up police presence in the areas where trouble had been reported, including Williamson Way and Thames View Road.

Carol Davis, who lives in Thames View Road, said: "We always said at the time they brought the order in that we thought it was stupid not to include Thames View Road and Williamson Way.

"The kids just take two steps from Nowell Road and they're here. It's a bit of a problem and with the darker nights I think people feel more nervous about going out."

Since the order took effect, police have made 56 dispersals and sent five warning letters to people's homes - the next step after an individual has been dispersed on three or more occasions.

They are also drawing up an acceptable behaviour contract with one youth who has been asked to move on several times. If the contract is breached, it could lead to an antisocial behaviour order being sought.

No-one has been arrested for breaching the terms of the dispersal order.