ALMOST 3,000 cans and bottles of alcohol have been confiscated from street drinkers since a public space protection order was introduced in Bradford.

And the order will now be expanded in scope to cover people who urinate in the street or drunkenly heckle passers-by.

But a meeting has heard that limited resources had meant anti-social street drinking remains a major problem across the district.

The Public Space Protection Order was introduced in 2019 in Bradford city centre, as well as town centres in Bingley, Shipley and Keighley.

It gave officers the power to confiscate alcohol from street drinkers. People who did not follow the order could be fined up to £1,000.

A PSPO can legally only run for three years, and earlier this Summer Bradford Council held a consultation into extending this order another three years.

At a meeting of Bradford Council’s Regulatory and Appeals Committee yesterday, members voted to extend the order.

They also added measures meaning Council officers can take tougher action against people who aggressively shout and swear in the street, and those who urinate in public.

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Michael Churley, safer communities coordinator, said the order gave a greater power to Council officers to tackle issues that may not necessarily be illegal, but still “cause anxiety to the public.”

He added: “It is challenging as we are dealing with some of the most vulnerable people in our district.

“A lot of them have highly complex needs – some are homeless and many have had traumatic upbringings.

“We have to balance these issues with the wider public’s right to use our town centres without feeling intimidated or threatened.”

He told members that since the PSPOs were introduced in 2019, 2,875 “vessels” of alcohol had been confiscated.

Members were told that as well as confiscating alcohol, the team worked with drinkers with complex needs to post them to services that could help them – including providing accommodation.

Mr Churley added: “People don’t want to have their drink taken off them, so when they see us they move on.

“This does take them out of a particular place. But the order is only a part of the package needed to sort the problem.”

Over 150 people responded to the consultation earlier this year. Many were supportive of the extension, but questioned how effective the PSPO had been.

Areas identified as hot spots were Ivegate, the bottom of Sunbridge Road and Centenary Square in Bradford city centre, Low Street in Keighley and Crowgill Park in Shipley.

The Bradford BID said the current order “lacked effectiveness” and urged Bradford Council to add more resources to the team policing the order.

Referring to the consultation Mr Churley said: “I’m not going to sugar-coat it – a lot of people said there was still a big problem with this behaviour.

“This extension will have an additional clause to allow officers to respond to drunken anti-social behaviour like shouting, swearing and urinating in a public place.”

He said factor contributing to the problem was years of cuts to rehabilitation services.

Mr Churley added: “Luckily there is more Government funding coming through for treatment and rehabilitation support. These are areas that have suffered from austerity over the last couple of years.”

Councillor Matt Edwards (Green, Tong) said: “I do question the effectiveness of this. From my office I can hear shouting and see drunken behaviour out of my window, so I do question how effective this work is.”

Mr Churley said: “We’d love to have more resources, we’d love to have eight officers patrolling the city centre.

“We know Tyrell Square is a particular issue. We’ve put together a multi-agency team to tackle the issue, but the truth is we can’t be all places all the time.”

Cllr Edward asked how often fines were handed out in light of the fact many street drinkers would not have the means to pay.

He was told that few fines had been issued, adding: “Many people don’t have the means to pay them. If we put them in prison for not paying they would come out with even more problems. If we fine people it tends to be repeat offenders or ringleaders.”

He said the team were looking to hand out more fines in future.

Members agreed to extend the Public Space Protection Order for another three years.