A group of neighbours have won the right to lock their cul-de-sac from the public to keep out drunken yobs.

Government planning inspectors approved the application for a heavy, 2m-tall iron gate from residents in St James's Place, Brighton.

Families living in the six listed buildings claimed drunks wandering in from St James's Street urinated and defecated on their doorsteps, while others had been threatened by people trying to use the alleyway as a short cut.

The electronic gate will locked from 9pm to 6am each day and the £6,000 cost will be shared by residents.

Bob Abrahams, 58, has lived in the cul-de-sac for 15 years with his wife and daughter. He said: "Hopefully this order and the gates will stop 99 per cent of people coming up here and should also put a stop to all the problems we have had.

"We are now in the process of getting quotes for the gate to be put in. It has taken a long time but I have got used to that and I will believe it when I see the gates are up and working."

The stopping-up order has been approved more than two and a half years after residents submitted the original planning application to Brighton and Hove City Council.

Despite winning support from the city council's environment committee, the application was referred to Government planning officers following objections from a Hove resident and the Open Spaces Society.

A final hearing with representations from families in St James's Place and people opposed to the gates went ahead at Hove Town Hall in February.

In a report confirming the order, inspector Heidi Cruickshank said: "The order would affect the residents by removing the rights of the public to access the area 24 hours a day, this being a particular problem at night when antisocial behaviour occurs along the footpath."

Stopping-up orders can be granted under several Acts of Parliament and are typically made by developers on new housing estates when a public right of way runs through the site and needs to be closed off.

Footpaths which attract criminals can also be closed off by council officers at the request of residents under new powers in the amended Highways Act.

Families in St James's Place will have to wait three weeks for any challenges to be registered against the order before installing the gate.

Harry Virk, 35, said: "It has taken a long time to get the decision but a lot of what is happening is common sense.

"The police were never interested and the council never did anything but now we have more power over our own space.

"It is not about being fascists but we are better placed to protect the lane."

The Open Spaces Society (OSS) is in talks with the National Ramblers Association to see whether there are grounds for challenging the order in the High Court.

The OSS's general secretary, Kate Ashbrook, said: "Our concern is that we are losing another valuable urban path and the rule is once a highway always a highway.

"The path should be made friendly to the public and if it is nicely lit and looked after it will discourage antisocial behaviour.

"Urban paths are valuable because we all need to get away from traffic."