Why drinking alcohol has been banned on this South Gloucestershire high street
A ban on street drinking has been brought into force in Staple Hill to tackle increasing levels of anti-social behaviour.
The local authority has used new powers to bring in the order, which is the first of its kind in the area.The Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO) is being implemented on Friday and Saturdays from 9pm to 4am from the junction with Lower Station Road and Broad Street to the junction with Park Road.
The order will be enforced by the police and breaking it could result in a fixed penalty notice for £100.
'We're seeing an increase in street drinking'Over the past two months, there have been nine separate incidents of assaults and public order offences as well as reports of groups of up to 100 people gathering, verbal abuse towards members of the public, fighting, drug dealing and evidence of individuals carrying knives and weapons.
Neighbourhood Police Inspector Clive Summerill said: “We’ve been working closely with South Gloucestershire Council to deal with these ongoing issues, which have become more prevalent since the easing of lockdown measures in the spring.
"What we're seeing is an increase in street drinking and some underage drinking which has led to a series of disorder and a number of fights on Staple Hill high street and there has been a stabbing recently.“This PSPO gives us additional powers to tackle the root cause of the criminality we’ve been experiencing."
Locals seem to be grateful for the new measures.
One told ITV News: "It's definitely important, past midnight it gets a bit silly. It's really noisy as well, especially if you live locally. It's not nice to hear".
Another said: "Fine them more, that's what I think. The troublemakers need to be taught a lesson".
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