Council considers on-the-spot fines

Slough: Powers could tackle anti-social street drinking

On-the-spot fines of up to £100 could be dished out for street drinking and alcoholrelated anti-social behaviour across Slough under new powers proposed by the council.

Slough Borough Council is considering introducing a new Public Space Protection Order (PSPO) across the borough to curb anti-social behaviour in public places.

The proposed PSPO would not ban drinking alcohol in a public place.

But people could be fined if they fail to stop drinking or fail to hand over any containers of alcohol when asked to do so by a police officer or council officer.

The council said authorised officers will only be able to ask people to stop drinking on the grounds that anti-social behaviour is likely to happen.

The proposed PSPO will give police officers and council officers the right to issue on-the-spot fines of up to £100 or take rule-breakers to court where fines of up to £1,000 could be issued for repeated breaches.

It is not the first time PSPOs have been in place in Slough with Chalvey previously subject to an order which aimed to curb anti-social behaviour.

A 28-day consultation launched today which seeks public feedback on whether the new order should be introduced across the whole of the borough.

Councillor Iftakhar Ahmed, cabinet member for community cohesion, planning, public health, public protection and leisure, said: “The previous order was in place to make it easier to target anti-social behaviour in certain locations.

“However, expanding it to cover the whole borough will make it simpler and easier to enforce and for people to understand.

“It will be part of a toolkit to tackle lower-level behaviour that has a detrimental effect on the quality of life of residents.”

You can fill in the online survey at slough.gov.uk. Comments can also be emailed to ReportASB@ slough.gov.uk while responses can be sent in writing to PSPO consultation, Community Safety team, Observatory House, Windsor Road, Slough, SL1 2EL.

The survey is open until February 12.