THE continued presence of a group of local residents gathered around benches in the centre of the town, drinking alcohol and leaving litter, is set to be tackled more strongly by local police.

At a recent Ross Town Council meeting, the topic of deterring street drinkers in Ross was discussed.

Concerns were raised about the street drinkers affecting local businesses and trade, leaving litter, especially in the Market Place, as well as intimidating the public and detering visitors, leaving tourists with a bad impression of the town.

Police Community Support Officer, Paul Davies, told the council that new steps are being taken to address the issue in Ross, as previously, nothing has worked in deterring the street drinkers.

PSCO Davies said: “Members of the public have been feeling quite intimidated. It is a cause of concern for many people.”

The next course of action is a five step plan which will be adhered to, in order to try to prevent the problems.

In the first instance the street drinkers would receive an advisory notice, which would then be followed by a formal notice and court action.

The fourth step would be to issue a S.35 order, which would remove them from an area in the town for 48 hours. If they come back again, then the fifth step would be arrest.

This has now been implemented.

Ross Councillor, Richard Mayo, mentioned antisocial behaviour with the alcohol, such as swearing and littering, but PCSO Davies said that, in his experience, the street drinkers have not been antisocial, and have moved on when asked, but just return later.

He added that, if there is swearing and aggression in the town, without drinking, to ring 101.

Ross Councillor, Chris Bartrum, added that: “Some of these people probably don’t know they are causing a nuisance and are appearing to be aggressive to visitors and people in the town.

“Will it be part of the five point plan to give these people some sort of advice if they have alcohol or drug issues?”

PCSO Davies said that this would be looked into.