DRINKING IN public is banned in parts of Australia and other authoritarian countries – and now a ban is creeping into Hackney.

Signs making drinking illegal in he thhe street have started appearing around the borough.

The council’s community-safety team says the notice has been in place since the borough-wide designated public place order (DPPO) was approved in 2010 by the regulatory committee, a little-known council group.

The team says: “It followed three months of borough-wide consultation in the form of online and on-the-ground conversations, which found 63% of respondents were in favour of a borough wide controlled drinking zone.

“It was established under Section 13 of the Criminal Justice and Police Act 2001.

“It is not and never has been interpreted as a no-drinking zone or drink ban.”

The signs had reduced alcohol-connected antisocial behaviour.

In an admittedly small survey, Loving Dalston found nobody who remembered having been asked whether they wanted public drinking banned in their street.

Hamish Scott 140415

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