A REVIEW into street drinking and anti social behaviour in city and town centres will begin next week.

Bradford Council is in the process of renewing its public space protection orders, introduced in 2016 as a way of tackling problem drinkers in Bradford city centre and other town centres in the district.

The orders expire later this year, and the Council is planning on renewing them. To do this, they need to consult with businesses in the area, the police and residents of the district.

And Councillors were told yesterday that the orders could be expanded depending on the results of the consultation.

There are currently public space protection orders in the city centre as well as the centres of Keighley, Shipley, Bingley and West Bowling.

They target the abuse of legal substances, like alcohol or legal highs, and allow officers to request that people surrender any alcohol or drugs in their possession. Failure to comply with the request is a criminal offence and can lead to a £100 fine or court summons.

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Plans to renew the orders were discussed by Bradford Council’s Regulatory and Appeals Committee at a meeting yesterday.

They were told that since October 2016, when the orders were implemented, the number of alcohol related incidents the police were called to has fallen.

In the first year since the orders were issued, the number of alcohol related incidents in the city centre fell from 166 between April to December to 108, a fall of 35 per cent.

In Keighley the number fell from 135 to 86, and in Shipley it fell from 102 to 95 in the same period.

There was a big drop in incidents in and around Centenary Square and City Park. and 27 per cent of all alcohol confiscated was from this area of the centre.

Richard Winter, from the Council’s legal team, said a four week consultation would begin on Monday, and the results of that consultation would help decide whether the orders are expanded.

Councillor Mohammed Amran (Lab, Heaton) asked: “Would we be able to look at adding extra streets in the city centre like Manor Lane?”

Mr Winter said: “There can be variations as part of these renewals, it will depend if the evidence is there to support it.”

He pointed out that police had not raised any particular concerns over legal highs in the city since the order was introduced. He added: “You could say that is a positive step arising out of the order. Because of the order, people may have stopped taking legal highs, or they might be doing away from the city centre.

“There is an issue of people drinking in City Park, as that is where a lot of people take their families.

“There might be an issue with drug taking, but that’s not the evidence we’ve seen. This consultation will be part of getting that evidence.

“This could lead to us adding another order in another area of the district.”