Wiltshire Council is tackling street-drinking and anti-social behaviour in Devizes by implementing a Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO).

The PSPO were introduced as a tool to help councils address nuisance behaviour that is seen as detrimental to the local community’s quality of life.

The order will be implemented in Devizes town centre and Green Lane meaning the police can request anyone causing anti-social behaviour in a public place to stop drinking alcohol and surrender anything believed to be an alcohol container.

It is an offence to refuse the order and continue to consume alcohol and officers can also order groups of people behaving in an anti-social manner to disperse and not return to the restricted area for up to 48 hours.

Signage will be put in place to enforce these restrictions and anyone found to be breaching the PSPO could be issued a Fixed Penalty Notice up to £100, while failing to pay this penalty could lead to prosecution and a fine up to £1,000.

A consultation on the proposed order took place between July and August, with over 800 responses and 90 per cent of those voting in favour of the PSPO.

Cllr Dominic Muns, Cabinet Member for Environment, said: "Our thanks goes to everyone who took part in the consultation on the proposed order for Devizes.

“We understand how anti-social behaviour can really affect the lives of local communities and how people can feel powerless to act, and that is why safeguarding the public is a key priority in our Business Plan.

“In this instance, the feedback we received from the local community, residents and businesses was overwhelmingly in favour of implementing a Public Spaces Protection Order in Devizes.

“We are already seeing the PSPO in Salisbury city centre starting to have a positive impact and we hope that by putting the Devizes PSPO in place it will act as a deterrent and that our public spaces can be enjoyed free from anti-social behaviour.”

Inspector Simon Garrett, from the Wiltshire Police, added: “We very much welcome the Public Spaces Protection Order which is the result of strong partnership work between Wiltshire Police and Wiltshire Council.

“It will provide our officers with additional powers to deal with anti-social behaviour associated with street drinking and groups congregating together. We are aware that such incidents will naturally cause concern within the local community.

“Devizes Neighbourhood Policing Team will proactively police the order and respond to any concerns reported by members of the public. Any breaches of the Order will be dealt with robustly.”