‘Alarming’ increase in fines under ‘busybody charter’

A FOURFOLD increase in the number of fines issued under the “busybody charter” has been described as “utterly alarming”, with councils cracking down on activities such as feeding birds, walking dogs and playing loud bhangra music.

The number of penalties issued under Public Space Protection Order (PSPO) legislation by councils across the country shot up from 470 in 2015 to 1,906 in 2016.

The orders, which were introduced in 2014, were intended to clamp down on threatening or violent behaviour.

However, they have been used in some areas to outlaw lucky charms, chalk drawings, singing and, in one case, carrying a golf bag. One council even proposed a PSPO to ban sheep from entering a village.

Campaigners against over-regulation have said the legislation is part of a worrying trend towards criminalising everyday life. Liberal Democrat peer Lord Tim Clement-jones said it was “utterly alarming” that the powers were being used to restrict freedom of expression “in an unprecedented way”.

Data obtained by the Press Association, through a series of freedom of information requests to the 348 councils that implement PSPOS, reveal the vast array of offences that people have been punished for.

Josie Appleton, director of the Manifesto Club, which campaigns against over-regulation, said that PSPOS are a “blank cheque” for arbitrary use of power by local authorities.