Festive hangover for booze ban bid (From Warrington Guardian)

Festive hangover for booze ban bid

THE creation of alcohol exclusion zones in Congleton and Alsager has been delayed until early 2005 - despite borough council predictions that the scheme would be in place by Christmas.

Congleton Borough Council was hoping to have the booze-busting campaign in operation this month but an unexpected level of work in piecing the plans together has forced an expected two month delay.

The council had originally hoped the scheme would crack down on anti-social behaviour during the festive season.

Tony Potts, borough council community safety manager, said: "Of course we are disappointed about the delay and the aim now is to get the zones up and running by February.

"We are looking forward to the New Year, when hopefully everything will be ready to go.

"This is a borough-wide plan and we didn't envisage the amount of work involved in piecing together five sets of maps and plans."

The borough council has the power to implement alcohol exclusion zones under the Criminal Justice and Police Act 2001.

The zones are areas that have been identified by police and the borough council as drink-related crime hotspots.

They include the towns' main shopping areas and public spaces.

Under the new legislation, people caught drinking in the zones could be hit with an instant £80 on-the-spot fine. Failure to surrender the alcohol on request will be an arrestable offence.

The scheme, part of an ongoing crackdown on anti-social behaviour, also identifies exclusion zones in Sandbach, Middlewich and Holmes Chapel.