Home News Columnists Ian Robson

Gateshead booze ban not tough enough

Oct 11 2009 by Ian Robson, Sunday Sun

GATESHEAD is extending a street booze ban to cover more areas.

The ban will cover Gateshead town centre as well as suburbs such as Blaydon and Winlaton.

A number of local beauty spots will also be covered by the regulations imposed by the council.

Yippee, I hear you say . . . long overdue. Should have happened years ago.

This column supports in broad terms any initiative to crack down on crime and anti-social behaviour caused by drink.

Gateshead’s action is to be applauded. And so are the many similar initiatives from Berwick to Bridlington, Whitley Bay to Whitehaven, and all points in between.

Are we missing the point here? Up and down the country, local authorities and police are dreaming up their own responses to the problem.

Each is different, each has its own variables, when what is needed is a coordinated national crackdown.

I don’t see why there can’t be a blanket ban on boozing in the streets. All places, all times.

Not a limited local ban which starts at that lamppost and stops at this street, starts in the evening and stops in the morning, comes into force at the weekend and doesn’t apply any other time.

Everyone, drinkers as well as police, will know where they stand with no room for doubt.

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