Peterborough city centre anti social behaviour 'hit squad' start patrols

The Peterborough city centre anti-social behaviour ‘hit squad’ has started patrols in a bid to reduce nuisance behaviour.

The council announced the team of enforcement officers was being formed last month, and now they have started their duties.

The squad was formed after issues of anti social behaviour, including street drinking and noise, were raised by a number of people, including Peterborough MP Paul Bristow.

The new team was out in force yesterday, joining officers from Cambridgeshire Police in the city centre to ensure the Public Space Protection Order (PSPO) was being enforced.

The PSPO means anyone in the city centre is obliged to surrender open cans or bottles containing alcohol to officers, not to urinate or defecate in public, not to beg within 10m of a cash machine, or to beg in ‘an aggressive manner,’ not to spit or drop litter, and not to cycle during the specified times.

A police spokesman said: “We've been back at it tackling anti-social behaviour and street drinking in the city centre.

“Today (Wednesday) we joined Prevention Enforcement Service officers from Peterborough City Council to carry out checks on the Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO) in the city centre.

“The PSPO is in place to ensure the city centre is a nice and safe area for all those visiting. Today we focussed on those seen drinking alcohol, disposing of any opened alcohol containers and moving those along who were causing anti-social behaviour.”

The hit squad are currently working as part of a six month trial, which if successful could see officers posted in other parts of the city.

When the formation of the team was announced, the council said one of the priorities of officers would be ‘trained to to work with individuals, first using verbal persuasion to encourage them to stop’ causing anti social behaviour, with fines only issued if that approach was not successful.

Speaking to The Peterborough Telegraph, Superintendent Neil Billany, Cambridgeshire Police’s area commander for Peterborough and Fenland, welcomed the new team, and pledged his officers would be working alongside the squad to make the city centre a more pleasant place to visit.