Anti-social behaviour clampdown consultation opens

Reading council wants to introduce a borough-wide public spaces protection order

A consultation on plans to clamp down on anti-social behaviour in a town, including aggressive begging and street drinking, has been launched.

Reading Borough Council wants to introduce a public spaces protection order (PSPO), which it said would make it easier to stop nuisance behaviour and is supported by police.

Karen Rowland, chair of the council's community safety partnership, said the order would give police officers the power to halt behaviour "that causes residents undue anxiety, nuisance or distress" and urged people to share their thoughts.

The consultation is open for responses until 7 September.

PSPOs give police and local authorities powers to address anti-social behaviour in public spaces.

Under the plans, Thames Valley Police officers would be able to ask people drinking and causing nuisance or disorder to stop and hand over any containers believed to contain alcohol.

It would also give the force more powers to stop e-bike and e-scooter riders purposely causing distress or nuisance, the council said.

It would make begging subject to enforcement and it would make it an offence to not pick up after your dog. or hold your dog on a lead if ordered to.

"Street drinking and begging, dog fouling and proper dog control, along with the aggravated misuse of mechanically propelled micro-mobility vehicles such as e-bikes and e-scooters are all issues that are increasingly upsetting residents," said Ms Rowland.

She said while a PSPO was not a "panacea to cure all those ills" it was "another very useful tool to allow officers the powers they need to halt the worst of anti-social misbehaviour that causes residents undue anxiety, nuisance or distress".