TOUGH new powers to crackdown on begging, using the street as a public toilet, skateboarding and charity ‘chuggers’ are set to be introduced in Burnley town centre.

Council bosses said the new Public Space Protection Order would give police and council if a simpler and more effective way of tackling aggressive, dangerous and anti-social behaviour in the town’s main shopping district.

MORE TOP STORIES:

Those caught breaching the order could face a £100 on the spot fine.

This would rise to £1,000 if they were taken to the magistrates’ court for failure to pay the fixed penalty or persistently re-offended.

The introduction of the order follows complaints from businesses, shoppers and visitors about anti-social behaviour putting people off visiting the town centre.

Cllr Mark Townsend, Burnley Council leader, said: “We are investing in Burnley town centre and want to make it as welcoming as possible.

“This is a comprehensive and simple order which makes it easier to tackle certain types of anti-social behaviour brought to our attention by residents and traders.”

The move, proposed by the council yesterday, will support an existing borough-wide order banning public drinking and possession of open containers of alcohol introduced in 2009.

The new powers are being introduced under October 2014 government legislation and will be among half a dozen such comprehensive orders in England, following similar steps in Lincoln, Taunton and Blackburn.

The tough new rules could be in place as early as late summer following a six-week consultation, which ends on June 26, as the borough and Lancashire County Council invests £3million in town centre improvements.

The order runs from ASDA and the Anchor Retail Park, below Thompson Park, down Belvedere Road and Plumbe Street, round Tesco’s via Finsley Street to Centenary Way, up Trafalgar Street along Westgate and Active Way back to ASDA.

It does not include Burnley Cricket Club, Turf Moor or Burnley College.

The specific activities banned include: begging on the street and, at any time, placing yourself in a position to beg or solicit money; under-16s being in the area between 11pm and 5am unless accompanied by a responsible adult or resident within it; the misuse of skateboards, bicycles, scooters or similar wheeled conveyances; urinating or defecating in a public place; and unsolicited charity collections or ‘chugging’.

The move follows persistent problems with aggressive beggars in recent years, urine and excrement found on the street in the mornings during and after weekends and careless skateboarding around the Peace Garden in Vitry Square between the main library and magistrates courts and near the bandstand in St James’s Street.

Council enforcement officers and police will be able to move on beggars positioning themselves by cash points and ease the gathering of evidence for prosecutions, even when offenders have not been caught aggressively soliciting cash from passersby.

Brian Hobbs, Burnley and District Chamber of Trade president welcomed the move.

He said: “Businesses are very concerned about beggars intimidating shoppers and visitors.

“We often find urine and excrement on pavements in the morning, especially at or after weekends.

“Skateboarders and charity ‘chuggers’ are also a problem.

“We want our town centre to be a safe and welcoming place.”

Cllr Gordon Birtwistle, a former MP for the town, said: “I am absolutely in full support of this.

“It is very welcome and long overdue.

“There is a real problem with aggressive and intimidating beggars and skate boarders round the Peace Garden.

“Hopefully this will make it much easier for police and council officers to make Burnley’s town centre a safer and more welcoming place.”

A £3million refurbishment package for the town centre, unveiled in February last year, will refurbish and upgrade the pedestrianised section of St James’s Street from Hammerton Street to the bandstand.

Joanne Swift, Burnley Council’s head of Streetscene, said: “In recent months it has come to the council’s attention there may be a need to control aspects of anti-social behaviour.

“We are working hard to make Burnley’s lovely town centre as attractive as possible, to bring in more shoppers and boost businesses and the local economy with a £3million regeneration.

“Some behaviour in the town centre isn’t acceptable and is putting people off from coming into town.

“This needs to be tackled and a PSPO will give the council and police more powers to do that.”