Order aims to combat rise in anti-social behaviour

Street drinking, aggressive begging and riding e-scooters could be banned in a town centre following a spike in reports of anti-social behaviour.

Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council plans to impose a public space protection order (PSPO) in Kidsgrove to address "persistent behaviours" in the area. It said reports of anti-social behaviour had risen by 54% over the past year.

"I couldn't go and pay for petrol at Tesco because they'd locked the doors after two well-known drug addicts had come in and tried to steal things and were kicking off with staff," said councillor Simon Kasperowicz.

Breaching the order, which is subject to a 12-week consultation, could result in a £100 fine or prosecution.

The council said there had been 177 reports of anti-social behaviour in Kidsgrove in the past 12 months and the proposed order was a "proportionate" response.

The PSPO would cover the town centre and is similar to an existing order in Newcastle-under-Lyme town centre

"The order is intended to address a number of persistent behaviours that are having a detrimental impact on residents, businesses and visitors to the town centre," said neighbourhood delivery manager Michelle Hopper.

"It provides proportionate powers to tackle those behaviours when engagement and other interventions have proved insufficient."

Kasperowicz said many people felt they just had to put up with anti-social behaviour due to a lack of response from the authorities.

Speaking about the incident at Tesco, he said staff felt there was no point in reporting it because "nothing gets done".

If the PSPO is adopted following the consultation it would be in force for three years before being reviewed.

This news was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service which covers councils and other public service organisations.

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