West End street drinking to be banned

Drinking in the street is set to be banned in the West End under a widening campaign against anti-social behaviour.

Police would be able to confiscate bottles and cans of alcohol. Anyone who refuses to move on would face arrest and a fine of up to £500.

Leicester Square, Covent Garden and Piccadilly Circus have been identified as areas where excessive street drinking takes place and are likely to be at the forefront of the initiative.

It comes after the introduction yesterday of a no-drinking zone in 27 streets around Earl's Court station, another notorious spot for people becoming drunk and abusive.

Drinking in the street could also be banned from other London areas, including around Waterloo station and Camden Town. Lewisham council introduced a ban around Lewisham and Catford town centres last month, and Croydon brought in restrictions at East Croydon station and Croydon old town in June.

Westminster council, which has a no-drinking zone around Westminster Cathedral, in Victoria Street, is tomorrow set to approve in principle the widening of the zone across the rest of the borough.

Police would be able to stop people they believe are drinking or planning to do so.

Officers would have discretion over when and when not to act. A council spokeswoman said the rules would not target people having a picnic in a park but those whose behaviour became a nuisance.

Westminster must carry out a detailed analysis before it can
introduce the rules to ensure they are not disproportionate to the scale of the problem.

The new powers are contained in the Criminal Justice and Police Act 2001, which allows councils to designate areas as "public places" in which police can act against street drinking.

The Metropolitan police are said to favour borough-wide powers as they can be effective without tying up too many officers.

The Westminster Cathedral ban is said to have cut the number of street drinkers and created a "word-of-mouth" understanding that it was no longer tolerated.

As a result, new arrivals in the capital tend to congregate at tourist spots - frustrating Westminster's attempts to clear the streets of aggressive beggars.

A report to councillors states: "Leicester Square, Covent Garden and Piccadilly Circus have been identified as areas where excessive street drinking regularly takes place. Offence and distress is being caused to those who live, work or visit these areas."

The Earl's Court restrictions, introduced by Kensington and Chelsea, follow the banning of 70-year-old beggar Royston Hughes from the Tube station in July. Local councillor Barry Phelps said: "These are not victims of alcohol dependency but selfish people who degrade the quality of life for everyone else."