Council gets tough on boozy misbehaviour
By Lara Cerroni
September 5, 2011
TOWER Hamlets streets will become a no-go zone
for drunken troublemakers, as the council and police start to use
new powers to tackle anti-social behaviour this month.
Tower Hamlets is to become a Responsible
Drinking Borough and, although the move does not ban drinking in
public, it has been introduced to crack down on drunken
misbehaviour to help make residents feel safer.
The extra powers involved come into effect
this Monday, September 5 and provide the police and council
officers with the ability to react quickly and effectively to
drink-related nuisance.
They will be able to stop people and request
them to cease drinking and, if they fail to do so, demand,
confiscate and/or dispose of any alcohol within the boundaries of
Tower Hamlets.
Mayor Lutfur Rahman said: “Community safety is
a key concern for residents, and that makes it my priority. These
new powers provide the council and police with more tools to tackle
alcohol-related anti-social behaviour.”
The decision to introduce the Responsible
Drinking Borough follows an overwhelmingly positive response to a
council-led consultation earlier this year when 84 per cent of
residents backed its introduction. Signs have been placed at key
points across Tower Hamlets to make sure that visitors are aware of
the new rules.
Previously the borough had three drinking
control zones – in Whitechapel, Bethnal Green and Shoreditch.
Although successful, they led to troublemakers moving on and
continuing their bad behaviour in other parts of the borough.
For more information visit www.towerhamlets.gov.uk/responsibledrinking