Dame Kiri - the West's top hoon-scarer

Move over Manilow - when it comes to warding off teenage troublemakers you can't beat New Zealand's own Dame Kiri Te Kanawa.

Christchurch is considering using Barry Manilow's much-maligned middle-of-the-road music to deter young people from congregating in public, vandalism and intimidating passers-by.

But in Waitakere City, the classics have already done the job.

Mayor Bob Harvey is in no doubt that piping in classical music to the concourse between the council and city's transport centre has kept vandals away for three years, because it is "so bloody hideous" to the teens.

"We have been playing what I would call 'Hooked on Classics' - Mozart, Vivaldi, Tchaikovsky and a dash of Dame Kiri. I think probably it is Dame Kiri that does it, but [troublemakers] don't stay around long," Mr Harvey told the Herald.

"I'm thinking of young kids that could possibly get into some problems with graffiti, and what you might call wilful damage.

"If it's not your music, and you really don't like it all, why would you, how could you, stay around?"

The concourse featured art and sculptures and nothing had been defaced or destroyed.

Mr Harvey describes the effect of the classical music on the teens as "like us being locked in a room with hip-hop. It would be enough to drive you crazy."

While it might seem surprising to see the music of a Kiwi icon such as Dame Kiri used this way, Mr Harvey joked that she was not a icon "if you're under 60, mate".

Dame Kiri's Australasian manager, Paul Gleeson, declined to comment. Dame Kiri is in the United Kingdom and could not be contacted.

If the classics had not worked, Mr Harvey reckons he would have tried Peking Opera.

"That probably would do the trick, but it would probably clear the city out at the same time."

And what about Manilow's music? To Mayor Harvey, it's a joke ... "and you don't want people listening to a joke."

Manilow's representatives have made no comment on Christchurch's plans for his music.