A teenage tearaway faces jail unless he stops making his neighbours' lives a misery by abusing people and joyriding on their estate.

Craig Hornsbury, 14, of Stonecross Road, Brighton, is the first of a number of youths to face legal action by Brighton and Hove City Council which is determined to save residents on the Moulsecoomb estate from the menace of anti-social troublemakers.

Hornsbury was made the subject of an anti-social behaviour order at Brighton Magistrates Court after he admitted joyriding and abusing residents.

The court ordered him to abide by strict conditions. If he steps out of line again he could face five years in prison.

He was ordered to stop joyriding on the estate and told to stop using threatening conduct likely to cause nuisance, annoyance, distress or harassment to people living in Brighton and Hove.

He was also banned from abusing, threatening or assaulting Brighton and Hove City Council staff.

The council decided to take legal action after residents complained about the teenager, accusing him of being abusive and joyriding on the estate.

No witnesses were prepared to go to court to give evidence against him but council officers told how he had admitted the allegations of misbehaviour to them.

The teenager, who suffers from attention deficit hyperactive disorder, admitted illegally driving on three dates last autumn.

He also admitted smashing a windscreen of a car belonging to a neighbour and shouting abuse.

After the case, his mother Joanna insisted her son could and would change his ways.

She said: "I get on well with most of the estate on the whole but a few of the neighbours seem to have it in for us."

Mrs Hornsbury admitted her son had got into trouble by "stealing cars and stuff" but she said she hoped this latest punishment would set him on the straight and narrow.

"I have sat down with him and he has told me he will sort himself out .He'd better."

Neighbours told how their lives had been made a misery by youths such as Hornsbury.

They blamed the teenager and his friends for driving fast round Moul-secoomb on mopeds and cars and abusing residents.

One said: "I have lived here for a number of years now and the last year has been nothing but hassle.

"I just don't sleep very well at night any more."

The woman said she had been signed off work with depression because of the troubles she had endured. She said Hornsbury and others would regularly abuse her and her family, leaving them desperate to get away from the area.

"It is just constant. They call my parents names and chase my children up and down the street. They can't even walk outside without being harassed.

"I have reported them to the police and asked the council to swap houses but there is none available."

Another neighbour said 17 residents living in the same street went to a meeting with council officers to complain about the teenager.

They blamed him for keeping the community awake at night by riding a scrambling bike around the streets.

She said: "He generally makes people's lives hell round here. He is totally out of control. This area has had enough of him. We would like to see the family moved away."

She said it was a relief the court action was taken but it was too little, too late.

"I hope the order does change things but I doubt it."

A spokeswoman for Brighton and Hove City Council said: "Joyriding on estates is something the community safety team is determined to tackle.

"This is the first of several cases we are bringing to address this problem.

"The community safety team works closely with Sussex Police to tackle anti-social behaviour on our estates and to improve the lives of residents."