LABOUR councillors including Worcester's parliamentary candidate have said they cannot support proposals to adopt a raft of new public behaviour orders.

Worcester City Council is looking at introducing £70 fines and city centre bans for people found under the influence of drugs and legal highs; urinating and defecating in public; feeding of certain birds, including gulls; aggressive begging; and aggressive or inconsiderate riding of a bike, scooter or skateboard.

A report will be discussed by the council’s communities committee today, February 4, and if approved an eight-week public consultation period on the new Public Space Protection Orders (PSPO) could begin.

But Councillor Denham said: “The offences outlined as targets for these new PSPOs will obviously affect rough sleepers and homeless people.

“The report is careful to state that these vulnerable people are not the target of the proposals, but it’s not clear what ‘aggressive begging’ means.

“While none of us want to see illegal activities in the city centre, we should not be seeking to fine and criminalise people who are at rock bottom.

"We should be helping vulnerable people and protecting them from exploitation, rather than punishing them further.”

Cllr Denham also said the problems were due to austerity policies pursued by both the government and local Conservative politicians.

“Take, for example, Homelessness Prevention and Support Services: the budget for these have been cut in Worcestershire from £1.2 million to £100,000 in just four years," Cllr Denham said.

“Treatment services for substance misuse, alcohol dependency and mental health have all been cut back too.

“The police already have the authority to deal with criminal activity such as drug-dealing - whether or not they have the manpower is a different issue.

"Cuts have consequences and trying to ‘tidy up’ our public realm in this way is not the correct approach."

Councillor James Stanley, chairman of the council’s communities committee, said: “We are making this proposal after looking at figures for the main areas of anti-social behaviour that attract complaints.

“We know some of these issues can be quite sensitive so this consultation, if it is supported by the committee, will be very much an attempt to gauge the public mood and see if there is a desire for additional powers to be brought in."

READ MORE: Feeding gulls and aggressive begging could soon get you banned from the city centre