The Government’s own neighbourhood crime adviser has accused Gordon Brown of letting people down on antisocial behaviour.

Louise Casey said that not enough was being done to stop yobs making other people’s lives a misery. She said that, unless police and councils got a grip on the problem, it would pass from generation to generation.

She told The Times that she was shocked by the cases of Fiona Pilkington — who killed herself and her daughter after suffering years of abuse from bullies — and the brothers who attacked two boys in Edlington, South Yorkshire. “Honestly, I think we have let people down,” she said. “I am not suggesting that anybody personally is responsible for the extraordinarily tragic case of Mrs Pilkington and her daughter, but can you go to bed at night knowing everything is being done to prevent these things from happening? That is the test.”

Last week the Home Office published an action plan to end what Alan Johnson, the Home Secretary, described as years of “coasting” on the issue. It follows Gordon Brown’s promise to the Labour Party conference last month to tackle antisocial behaviour.

Labour’s private polling shows that crime and antisocial behaviour are key issues, but Ms Casey’s blunt assessment will be seen as very unhelpful as it gives the Opposition ammunition.

When Mr Brown became Prime Minister two years ago he split policy on antisocial behaviour between the Home Office and the Department for Children, Schools and Families, with greater emphasis placed on prevention than enforcement.

Mr Brown’s allies admit that he ordered the move because he wanted to signal a break with Tony Blair’s agenda, which he believed played to irrational fears of crime among voters.

Friends of Ms Casey believe that the split allowed the policy to drift. She said: “I felt personally frustrated at that point. You have to be tough on crime and tough on criminals and then get the support and rehabilitation right. In that order.”

Ms Casey spearheaded Mr Blair’s antisocial behaviour initiatives. She said: “You need to nip it in the bud as early as humanly possible. There is no point giving someone a warning letter if, when they rip it up, you don’t go and visit them. There is no point doing a home visit which they ignore. There is no point in just doing interventions if there is no end product.”

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