Aussie council deploys Barry Manilow sonic weapon

Merciless assault on tearaways

An Australian council has decided to deploy the ultimate rowdy youth repellent - piped Barry Manilow backed by a further selection of "daggy" melodies.

The radical sonic attack plan is designed to drive the ne'er-do-wells from a car park in Rockdale, Sydney, where they have been "revving their engines and generally annoying residents", the BBC reports.

During a six-month trial in the suburb of Brighton-le-Sands, the young miscreants will be subjected to Bazza's dulcet tones which will force them to take to their heels because " they can't stand the music", as deputy mayor Bill Saravinovski explained to Oz's Daily Telegraph.

The BBC notes that Mr Manilow joins Bing Crosby on the Down Under roster of weapons of musical destruction. The White Christmas crooner's hits were used against "loitering teenagers" in a 1999 purge of the Warrawong Westfield shopping mall in Wollongong. ®