Street drinking banned

A ban on drinking alcohol in all public places in Balderton is to be sought by the parish council to try to stamp out anti-social behaviour.

Members unanimously agreed on Wednesday that they should apply for a designated public place order for the entire village.

Their application will go to Newark and Sherwood District Council licensing committee, which has the power to grant an order.

The licensing officer for Newark and Sherwood district, Mr Paul Inman, said Balderton had a particular problem with anti-social behaviour, much of which was alcohol-fuelled.

He said the order would enable the police to confiscate alcohol from people over the age of 18.

He said they already had the power to take it from those under 18.

He said the idea of the order was not to stop people taking a bottle of wine with a picnic while they watched a cricket match on the playing field nor to stop the fishermen from taking a can of beer while they sat at Balderton Lake.

“This is not about anti-alcohol,” he said.

“We want to stop those people who are misbehaving. The order would be used when people abuse alcohol and are causing a problem.”

He said that similar orders had already been put in place in Southwell, which covers part of the town; Ollerton and Boughton which covers both villages and Sutton-on-Trent, which covers a playing field.

He said the orders proved to be successful, with a drop in the number of alcohol-related incidents.

Mr Inman said it was important that people realised that if an order was imposed it would be impossible for the police to monitor the situation around the clock and there would be times when people would still see youths drinking in the street.

Balderton beat manager Pc Martin Stannard said they were trying hard to get the message across that they would not tolerate under-age drinking and the results of it.

Mr Walter Hurst said he would like to see a blanket ban for the village rather than a ban for some areas, which could drive the youths to the areas not covered.