Aldwick's ban on boozing in public 'a failure'

Bags packed with empty booze bottles and cans proved the public drinking crackdown had failed, an Aldwick councillor has said.

Cllr Carol Wiseman, the chairman of Aldwick Parish Council, said three black bags of the drink containers had again been collected between Nyewood Lane and Trinity Way.

"There are alcohol cans and bottles all over the verges, in the trees and in the gutters," she told a police community meeting in Aldwick.

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"I understood that street drinking was not permitted in Bognor but you have only got to walk in that area at any time of night from 10.30pm onwards. There are young people walking around with bottles and cans.

"Whether they get it from the pubs and bring it with them or whether they get it from supermarkets, I don't know."

The latest litter-picking operation follows similar exercises which Mrs Wiseman and other volunteers from the West Meads area have carried out.

Police community support officer Nick Baker said the police were aware a group of drinkers aged up to their mid-20s seemed to enjoy congregating around West Meads.

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A no-drinking zone did cover all the Bognor Regis urban area, he explained. It was strictly enforced on Friday and Saturday nights.

"That is when we go out on Operation Respect and enforce the drinking restriction zone. Anyone with alcohol has it taken away.

"We have zero tolerance then because those are the days of the week when we experience behaviour driven by drink," he said.

But he explained he would interpret the ban with what he believed was a large dose of common-sense at other times.

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He would treat a middle-aged couple having a quiet drink in Avisford Park recreation ground during the day differently from a group of young people surrounded by empties and offending people by shouting and swearing.

However, it would be an offence for everyone to refuse to hand over the alcohol if a police officer ordered them to do that.

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