Orders to tackle anti-social drinking in Central Bedfordshire will no longer cover Caddington, Kensworth and Hockliffe

Caddington, Kensworth and Hockliffe will no longer be covered by Central Bedfordshire Council's Public Space Protection Order (PSPO) aimed at tackling anti-social drinking. .

The council’s Executive committee agreed the new PSPO on Tuesday, following a consultation in November 2019, which consulted on the existing order.

The council has agreed the new areas covered by the PSPO across Central Bedfordshire for the next three years.

The areas covered are:

- Ampthill

- Arlesey –The Blue Lagoon Area

- Barton-le-Clay

- Beeston –The Limes and The Green

- Biggleswade – Church Street and the High Street

- Dunstable – High Street North, High Street South, Court Drive Skate Park, Eleanor’s Cross, Grove Gardens, Priory Gardens, Ashton Square, Newton Recreation Ground, Mentmore Recreation Ground, Dunstable Cemetery, Luton Road Recreation Ground, Bennett Memorial Recreation Ground and Priory Church Yard

- Flitwick

- Houghton Regis –Bedford Square, Tithe Farm Road

- Leighton Buzzard –High Street, Lake Street and the Market Square

- Shefford –High Street, Old Bridge Way

- Sandy –Bedford Road Recreation Ground, Sunderland Road Recreation Ground, Fallow Field Recreation Ground and the Market Square

- Toddington.

Such orders are not complete public drinking bans, but they give authorised officers additional powers in designated areas.

They can request that individuals do not drink alcohol or hand over alcohol in their possession if behaving anti-socially.

PSPOs can be enforced by police officers, police community safety officers or any officer designated by councils. Breaches of a PSPO lead to fines or a fixed penalty notice.

Based on results from the public consultation and evidence that stakeholders provided, three of the existing areas have been removed from the PSPO - Kensworth, Hockliffe and Caddington.

Although these three areas will no longer have an order in place, the police will still have existing powers to deal with alcohol related issues in this area, including requesting individuals to not drink and removing any alcohol in an individual’s possession.

Cllr Kevin Collins, ward councillor for Caddington, said: "Two of three areas where restrictions removed are parishes in my ward. We will work with those parishes if alcohol-related problems creep back in."

Cllr Ian Dalgarno, Executive Member for Community Services said: “Public Space Protection Orders give our officers additional powers to deal with a wide range of anti-social issues, to assist in keeping our communities safe.

“The consultation helped us to determine that we had the right orders in place and in the right locations.

"We know local knowledge is key, so we used the feedback and evidence provided from residents and our partners to ensure that the decisions we made reflected any areas that were of concern.”

Cllr Victoria Harvey, ward councillor for Linslade, said: "I really support this, it's a huge benefit for Leighton Buzzard town centre."

Cllr Ian Dalgarno added: "I understand concerns raised ref Caddington and Kensworth. We will look and monitor, if there are any issues we will work with parish councils to help resolve them."

Are the orders effective? Let us know what you think about the changes by emailing [email protected] or [email protected].