Plan for antisocial behaviour fines in town centres

A council wants to implement powers to issue on-the-spot fines for antisocial behaviour in seven town centres.

Durham County Council is considering implementing Public Space Protection Orders (PSPOs) in Bishop Auckland, Chester-le-Street, Consett, Durham City, Peterlee, Seaham and Stanley.

The measure would give police and council officers powers to issue fines or remove people from an area for problems including intimidating behaviour, alcohol and substance misuse and nuisance electric bikes and scooters.

The Reform-led authority said proposals would include measures against wearing face coverings such as balaclavas "to conceal a person's identity while committing antisocial behaviour."

It would require face coverings to be removed when requested by officers and would not apply to coverings worn for religious, cultural and medical reasons, the council said.

Cabinet member for neighbourhoods, environment, and police relations Kyle Genner said PSPOs would give police and council officers "more powers to robustly deal with those doing wrong".

He said: "We want the message to be clear that if you're causing trouble and doing damage to neighbourhoods in the county, the consequences will be hard."

The council is set to discuss launching a public consultation on the proposal at a meeting next week.

If agreed, a consultation is expected to begin at the end of October and run for six weeks.

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