Police Can Now Confiscate Booze In UK Seaside Resorts

A number of seaside resorts have given new powers to police which will allow them to seize booze from holidaymakers.

The council that covers popular resorts Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole have approved a Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO) which gives authority figures more power to confiscate alcohol from citizens.

The decision was made after a series of incidents happened last summer that involved excessive alcohol, fighting and rowdy behaviour. A major incident was declared in Bournemouth due to the sheer volume of visitors.

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The order will come into effect from 1^st July, and will cover the vast majority of the council's 33 wards.

However, BCP Council, who have issued the powers, have said it is not a blanket ban on alcohol in public spaces, nor are they planning to make public drinking an offence. Rather, this was to reassure locals that the council will not tolerate disorderly behaviour from tourists.

Canford Cliffs ward councillor May Haines said: "We want to ensure that people visiting, living and working in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole feel safe and that street-based anti-social behaviour is addressed robustly."

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The local authorities in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole added they are now prepared for a sudden surge of visitors to the Dorset coast when the weather improves. An app, which is designed to show beachgoers which areas are crowded, has now been updated to also show parking spaces and the nearest public toilers.

Elsewhere, Covid marshals, crowd monitoring drones and a new park-and-ride scheme has been put into place to avoid huge crowds.

Last year, health secretary Matt Hancock threatened to close down the beaches if there continued to be no social distancing.

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Officials from Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole reported services being "completely overstretched" as well as gridlocked roads, abusive drunken behaviour and illegal parking.

In total, 500,000 visitors headed to Dorset's coasts which is nearly the population of the entire county.

Topics: UK News, News, travel

Kimberley Bond

Kim is a journalist at Tyla, and has previously worked at the Evening Standard, Radio Times as well as several national newspapers. A showbiz obsessive and a television fanatic, Kim is particularly interested in celebrity gossip, A-list events and the latest releases on either the big or small screen. Contact her at [email protected]

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