The penalties must be paid within 21 days

It comes after South Wales Police were given the power to issue the penalties on Wednesday.

These will include, for example, an �80 fine for throwing fireworks.

The scheme, formally known as Penalty Notice for Disorder (PND), has been on trial in the Bridgend, Neath and Port Talbot areas since May.

I do worry about some aspects of it, like the targeting of certain groups like teenagers Glynn Mills, Brackla resident

Police said the notices had already helped to reduce the amount of time officers spend on paperwork, and had reduced the burden on the courts.

Offences covered by the scheme include wasting police time, sending false messages and causing harassment, which cost offenders �80.

Offences like being drunk and disorderly, trespassing on a railway and throwing stones at a train cost �40.

Police say the penalties are being issued only to people aged 18 and over who are willing to accept them.

To those who refuse to accept a penalty, all existing methods of arrest and charge remain available to police officers.

The scheme is already in operation in the three other Welsh forces.

Chief Superintendent Graham Davies, South Wales Police, said: "This scheme is a very important method adopted by South Wales Police in tackling minor incidents of anti-social behaviour.

"This is an alternative way to police our community," he said.

"It is a proven way to deliver swift, simple and effective justice but also have the same deterrent effect on offenders.

"The trial in three of the divisions has proven to be successful. It saved officers' time in dealing with paperwork and enabled officers to return to their street duties much quicker, which is what the community wants," he added.

Glynn Mills, the former chairman of the Brackla Residents' Association in Bridgend, where the scheme has been tested, said some parts of it concerned him.

"I do worry about some aspects of it like the targeting of certain groups, like teenagers, and isolating them," he said.

"People could end up being judged basically on the way they dress.

"I deal with young people a lot and I feel more threatened by the older people in town than I do teenagers - and yet you'll probably find that teenagers are targeted more than anyone."