The device sends out a high pitched irritating noise

The mosquito alarms send out high-pitched noises which are only usually audible to people under 25.

Children's welfare groups have called for the gadgets to be withdrawn from sale because of concerns they breach human rights legislation.

The Levenmouth Community Safety Panel is planning to buy the devices to be used in Levenmouth as part of a trial.

Children's Commissioner Kathleen Marshall has described the devices as an assault on young people's ears.

Dispersing people

She said: "I think it is very sinister. It's really a short-term fix with the nightmare that it's feeding into this long-term problem that young people are moving away from older generations.

"This is a way of dispersing people as a problem without engaging them."

Two mosquito devices are already being used in the Levenmouth area of Fife.

The local Community Safety Panel, made up of representatives from the police and Fife Council, now plans to buy two alarms, which will be assessed during a 12-month trial.

Declared safe

Pc Kevin Russell from Fife Constabulary said: "These have been in for quite a long time now with partial success. There's been a marked drop in the numbers of people gathering when these are put on.

"They're successful in certain circumstances. We have to be very careful on how they are used and that we're not just dispersing kids to move on to somewhere else."

The company which sells the device has insisted that it has been declared safe by hearing experts.

Mosquito inventor Howard Stapleton said: "The unit is designed to emit a noise that is irritating and that is the point.