CARADON councillors are expected to approve an order today (Thursday) which will reduce drink-related crime and anti-social behaviour on the streets of Callington. Callington Town Council has applied to Caradon for an Alcohol Control Area in the town centre which has been a prime trouble spot for several years. The application is supported by the Caradon Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership and the police and will be heard alongside similar orders for Liskeard and Looe town centres at the council?s meeting tonight. A Designated Public Places Order is not the same as an alcohol-free zone but enables local authorities to restrict drinking in designated public places where alcohol-related disorder or nuisance has been identified. Research showed that over a three-year period up to March this year there were 142 drink-related crimes and 744 anti-social behaviour incidents identified within Callington town centre. This accounted for 14% of all crimes and 20% of all incidents. Peak times were Friday and Saturdays between the hours of 7pm and 2am. The designated public places order replaced alcohol-free zones in August last year and is said to have the added benefit of increasing reassurance in the town that the issue is being tackled. Callington portreeve Denise Winfindale said Callington was no different from any other town. ?I think anti-social behaviour and drink-related crime is a growing concern to us all, particularly because of the cheap alcohol you can buy from the supermarkets. ?This alcohol control area will give police more powers to take drink off people and move on disruptive individuals.? Police community support officer for Callington Mark Stribley said police would have the power to seize alcohol when breaches of the peace or anti-social behaviour occurred. He said: ?We consider a lot of incidents we have in Callington are alcohol-related and this will be another tool we can use to combat these incidents. ?I believe we are portraying the wrong image of Callington by allowing people to consume copious amounts of alcohol in public ? these young people are of an age where we can guide and influence them in the right direction.? PCSO Stribley said the order would make it clear that drinking large volumes of alcohol in public was unacceptable behaviour and hopefully these young people would not develop habits that could really become a problem later in their teens.
