Forums Forums Local News Street drinking banned in Birkenhead by council

Taken from BBC News

Street drinking has been banned across all of Birkenhead to prevent anti-social behaviour.

Wirral Council agreed to introduce an order in the whole of the borough to prevent alcohol being consumed except in designated places.

A ban was previously in place in some parts of Birkenhead town centre and parts of Upton and Prenton.

Hundreds of residents and businesses supported the extension of the ban, now subject to a 28-day consultation.
Petition in support

Merseyside Police have recorded 128 incidents relating to anti-social behaviour from January to 30 July this year including 108 reports of street drinking-related anti-social behaviour and 12 reports of violence. There were also eight reports of alcohol-related anti-social behaviour.

A petition signed by 462 residents and businesses in support of the Designated Public Places Order (DPPO) was received by Wirral Council.

The order does not make it an offence to drink alcohol in a designated place, but it gives police additional powers to stop people drinking and confiscate alcohol within that area.

If someone fails to stop drinking they can be fined £500 or be issued with a fixed penalty notice.

Councillor George Davies said street drinking had become "more prevalent in Birkenhead than anywhere else in the borough".

He said the blanket coverage is important "so that problems are not simply displaced to the next area".

Why use a small net to catch a few fish, when you can use half a dozen trawlers and catch the lot or typical political correctness we can't blame the one who's at fault we have to blame the whole town, so a blanket law is then enacted, nothing changes, time to bring back, "closing time" as the Parisian style of all day booze availability hasn't worked or is that against a persons uman rites innit.

Are we talking about the scalls/alchies walking around with a can of Kestrel ? - or the people who can't handle a drink without causing a kick-off outside a boozer..?

Then again what about the summertime neds who can't have a drink in their own back yard without raising a hooley - suppose that is private property so WBC can't touch them (yet)....

That said there are very few pubs with a decent outside these days, especially in Birkenhead.

Its about time something was done.

Bang goes my glass of champagne in the street on New Years Eve

The only places I can think of with "problem" drinking are in the trees on Borough Road here. and on the corner at Grange Baptist church.

There's no shortage of smoking drinkers outside the 'spoons near the bus station or the River View by Hamilton Square, but they're more of an inconvenience than trouble.

Good.

They love that big blue plastic bottle.

Once again the powers that be completely miss the problem! Let me spell it out. THE PROBLEM IS WITH THE LICENSING HOURS OF THE CLUBS. I have been in Birkenhead at 5.00AM on a Sunday morning (going to work) and the place is like the Village of the Damned. Young people out of their minds on drink and drugs swarming over the roads, puking, scrapping and generally being sub human. Police presence? Nil.

Ask any taxi driver who is unfortunate enough to work weekend nights in Birken-Vegas....

Seen a fella walkin down borough road pissed with a can of Skol super in his hand today opposite wirral spares.

Really gets to me they plead poverty although they can by alcohol and get pissed.