West Berkshire Council is to introduce a Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO) for Newbury town centre. People out and about in the town centre will notice new signage around the restricted area to highlight this.
PSPOs allow council’s to place restrictions on certain behaviours, including drinking alcohol, in an area to make sure that everyone can feel safer and enjoy public spaces.
People who live, visit or work in Newbury town centre took part in a consultation last year answering questions on restrictions on street drinking and anti-social . 86.7% of respondents supported the proposed street drinking restriction and 90.7% of respondents supported the anti-social behaviour restriction.
The proposed restrictions are preventative. If people are asked to stop their behaviour by a police officer or Police Community Support Officer (PCSO), they must do so. If they don’t comply, they will be committing a criminal offence. This could result in a fixed penalty notice of up to £100 or a fine of up to £1,000 if prosecuted.
