People caught drinking alcohol on the streets of a market town face having it confiscated as part of a clampdown on anti-social behaviour.

Craven councillors are expected to agree to impose the anti-social public-drinking order in Skipton following a police request for a new bylaw to widen their powers to deal with rowdy drinkers.

The Council has backed the request, subject to councillors' approval.

It has designated a wide area of the town centre where the new rules will take effect.

The area includes the whole of High Street, into Keighley Road and the bus station, Swadford Street, Cavendish Street and Coach Street. Three "picnic" areas along the Springs Canal are also to be included.

The order will not include Holy Trinity churchyard at the top of High Street.

Craven Council has already consulted residents, shopkeepers, publicans and Skipton Town Council and received wide support.

Inspector Tad Nawakowski, of North Yorkshire police, said the new rules would allow officers to stop people drinking from cans, bottles and glasses in the street and remove alcohol from people walking from one pub to another.

"At present we can't legally ask someone to stop drinking in the street," he said. "This new bylaw will give us that power."

The order would not prevent people drinking who are sitting outside pubs in designated areas, such as The Castle in Mill Bridge.

The new rule would add weight to the Skipton Town Against Night-time Disorder initiative which has been in effect several months and has led to the banning of about 12 people from Skipton pubs, said Insp Nawakowski. It is being extended to cover the whole of Craven, including the villages of Grassington and Gargrave.

Councillor Paul English, chairman of Craven Council's Community Services Committee, said he expected the new order to be ratified by the committee.

"We want sensible behaviour in the streets - this is not a Draconian measure," he said.

A Council spokesman stressed: "This is not a ban on drinking alcohol in a designated area. But if a person fails to comply with an officer's request to stop drinking or surrender alcohol, that will be an arrestable offence."