IT made headlines all over the world, attracted dozens of TV crews and was debated at the United Nations.

Hamilton's curfew - or Child Safety Initiative - turned the spotlight on three housing estates plagued by gang fighting and anti-social behaviour.

The crackdown involved police returning youngsters aged under 16 to their homes - unless they could give a good reason for being out on the streets after dark.

Ten years have passed since the start of the campaign, which was launched in October 1997, so how has life changed for residents in Whitehill, Hillhouse and Fairhill, the areas targeted by police?

Adam McCafferty, 44, lives yards from St Ninian's Park in Hillhouse, which was once a favourite haunt for gangs.

The father-of-two's oldest son David was 11 when the curfew was introduced, and other son Jordan is now 14.

He said: "The curfew worked for a while but it couldn't last. There simply weren't enough police.

"It was hell here, two or three years ago. There were groups of kids, from 10 to 18 years old, drinking and taking drugs in the park.

"They were shouting and pelting windows with eggs and bouncing up and down on cars, causing bother."

But, says Mr McCafferty, it has quietened down a lot now, largely thanks to the police and the council working together to give youngsters something else to do.

The curfew is long over and the focus has moved from sending kids on the streets home to keeping them off the streets in the first place.

A survey released in the aftermath of the curfew, which was debated by the UN's Committee Of Social and Cultural Rights in Switzerland, found 90% of youngsters were left with a negative view of the authorities. Community police, youth groups, local churches and the council have spent the last few years establishing links with teenagers through schools and clubs.

South Lanarkshire Council now runs 10 youth centres, including one in Woodside Walk, Hamilton, called Universal Connections.

Every base offers free access to the internet and provides activities such as live music, environmental projects, skateboarding groups, health promoting projects and day trips for hundreds of youngsters.

Mr McCafferty said: "It's a brilliant facility and there should be something like it in every major estate.

"I used to lie awake every Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday night. But I can sleep now because there are things for kids to do."

His son Jordan said: "It keeps you off the streets and is good place to hang out with your friends.

"I have done loads and loads of things, like surfing, canoeing, boating. I go every week and more and more people are going."

Youth group Hyzone runs a drop-in centre for teenagers every Sunday night at the community centre.

Hyzone was set up by St Mary's Episcopal, Hamilton Old Parish, St Andrew's Parish, St John's and Cadzow Parish churches, and is partly funded through Lottery cash.

Graeme McKerracher, the project's co-ordinator, said: "The churches felt as if they had to do something because there was a drop in the number of kids enrolling in the Boys Brigade and the Scouts.

"There was no agenda, they just felt as if their youth work wasn't reaching teenagers in Hamilton.

"The reaction we have had so far has been great. It's about offering kids the chance to do something positive in a group."

He added: "If you engage young people, then the hope is that they will come to you when issues like territorialism or drugs arise.

"We have volunteers in their 70s who help out and it's been a big eye opener for them. The drop-in centre has changed their image of young people."

Other key projects include Street Base, an organisation that provides trained street workers to divert under 18s away from alcohol, and the South Lanarkshire Youth Council, which seeks to promote positive youth work in the town.

Police say crime in Hillhouse has dropped 20% in the last year following a high profile crackdown on disorder last summer which led to 80 arrests.

Patrols have been recently stepped up in designated streets in Fairhill and off-licences in all three estates are being targeted as part of a crackdown on under-age sales. Regular "problem solving" meetings are now held between the council, social work and housing officials, to try to identify issues and prevent them from escalating.

Superintendent Ian Callander, sub- divisional officer at Hamilton, said: "We are not pretending that we have solved every issue, but we've certainly made significant progress.

"Anti-social behaviour and alcohol-related disorder will always be our core business.

"Community police have put in a lot of work in engaging with the public. We rely on the public to tell us what's happening. If individuals or their families are causing problems, they will be targeted and dealt with.

"The vast majority of people live law-abiding lives and should not have to put up with the minority who break the law."