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Following public consultation Warwick District Council has agreed to make an Order identifying all public places in the district as designated public places* under the provisions of the Criminal Justice and Police Act 2001.
The Order, which came into force on 1 March 2011, will allow a police office or a police community support officer to require a person in a designated public place not to drink alcohol in that place if the officer reasonably believes that a person has consumed alcohol or intends to do so, and to surrender the alcohol and any opened or sealed containers in the person’s possession.
Any person who fails, without reasonable excuse, to comply with a constable’s request under this provision may commit an offence and be liable to prosecution. The order will not apply to premises with licences to sell alcohol.
A public place is defined as ‘any place to which the public has access, on payment or otherwise, as of right or by virtue of express or implied permission’.
The Order will not be an outright ban on drinking alcohol. It will, however, give the Police the power to stop people drinking if they are causing a problem or are likely to cause a problem.
*A public place is defined as ‘any place to which the public has access, on payment or otherwise, as of right or by virtue of express or implied permission’
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