New Public Spaces Protection Orders (PSPOs) come into force on 20 October in Nottingham, providing Nottingham’s 100 Community Protection Officers (CPOs) with the powers they need to deal with street drinkers and keep the city safer.

An existing network of DPPOs (Designated Public Place Order) already cover Nottingham, allowing authorised officers including CPOs to require people to stop drinking alcohol in public places under certain circumstances.

The existing DPPOs will be converted to Public Space Protection Orders on 20 October 2017 in accordance with the provisions of the ASB, Crime and Policing Act 2014.

The new PSPOs will cover the whole of the city of Nottingham from the city centre to suburbs like Clifton, Wollaton and Bulwell – and crucially, our Community Protection Officers will now have the power to fine offenders £70  – previously only police officers were able to fine.

Under the new order, a Community Protection Officer can:

  • Require a person not to consume alcohol
  • Require a person to surrender any alcohol in his/her possession
  • Dispose of the alcohol
  • Issue a fine of £70

The new order will help tackle anti-social behaviours associated with street drinking, including vomiting, urinating and defecating in public areas, littering, violence, aggressive or intimidating behaviour and criminal damage.

When a CPO intervenes in those cases, the street drinker will be asked to stop drinking and surrender their alcohol – if the street drinker complies with those instructions, they won’t receive a fine.

If the street drinker fails to comply – they will receive a fine of £70. If the fine isn’t paid, they can be taken to court and given a higher fine of up to £500.

Councillor Toby Neal, Portfolio Holder for Community & Customer Services at Nottingham City Council said: “Street drinking can result in unpleasant anti-social behaviour – including noise, rowdy and threatening behaviour, harassment and intimidation of passers-by, as well as the littering of cans and bottles.

“We have a huge active night-time economy in Nottingham, and although it’s only a small minority who disrupt our city in this way, these new measures will allow our Community Protection Officers to deal with disruptive street drinking quickly and effectively.”