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Street drinking PSPO

Bedford Borough Council has consulted with citizens and stakeholders of the Borough for their views on introducing a Public Space Protection Order (PSPO) to tackle street drinking in Town Centre areas. 

This PSPO prohibits people consuming alcohol or having an open container of alcohol in the defined area, to prevent anti-social behaviour.

It covers the town centre from the following areas:

  • The Embankment in the south
  • St Cuthbert’s Street in the east
  • Landsdowne Road, Roff Avenue and De Parys Avenue in the north
  • Ashburnham Road in the west 

View the Order and the defined area map (PDF)

Restricted behaviour

No person shall consume alcohol or have an open container of alcohol at any time in the area shown by purple shading within the defined area covering town centre areas.

Nothing in this restriction shall apply to those premises to which section 62 of the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 applies as set out in Schedule 1 to this Order.

The PSPO will come into force on 16 December 2020 and will expire after three years.

Signage to look out for

View the PSPO street drinking sign (PDF).

About this PSPOs

Section 59 of the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 enables the Council to bring in a Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO) under powers introduced by Government.

The PSPO gives the Police and authorised officers powers to enforce against those breaching the restrictions. Enforcement of the PSPO can range from asking the person to surrender the alcohol, issuing a Community Protection Notice, a criminal behaviour order, to issuing a fixed penalty notice. The Council will continue to offer support for people where appropriate, such as referral to alcohol support services.

The Council would like to thank all those who took part in the consultation where an overwhelming 90.7% of responses were in support of the introduction of the PSPO.  A report was taken to the Council’s Executive on 25 November 2020 where the proposal to introduce the PSPO was approved by the Council’s Executive.

View the report including the consultation responses received here.