LEYTONSTONE: Four-year-old booze ban zone illegal (From East London and West Essex Guardian Series)

LEYTONSTONE: Four-year-old booze ban zone illegal

5:07pm Tuesday 2nd September 2008

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POWERS to seize alcohol from public drinkers in the Leytonstone High Road area have been used unlawfully for the past four years, due to a council gaffe.

An alcohol restriction zone (ARZ) was implemented in 2004 to give police the power to order people to surrender alcohol if an officer "reasonably believes" that he or she intends to consume it in public.

It covers dozens of streets close to Leytonstone High Road, extending as far as Janson Road, off Leytonstone Road, to the south and the Green Man roundabout to the north, as well as Gainsborough Road over the A12.

The scheme, which was the first in Waltham Forest, has been hailed as a success by councillors, officers and police officers.

But when officials recently began to put together plans for a similar scheme covering Walthamstow High Street, they realised a major mistake had been made in the designation of the original Leytonstone ARZ four years ago.

The zone had never been ratified by a meeting of full council, contrary to the Criminal and Justice Act 2001.

This means that the zone has never been valid, and the council has now advised police they cannot lawfully enforce the alcohol restrictions.

Conservative group leader Matt Davis said: "This is a further example of the incompetence caused by the cabinet system.

"It is a simple fact of the matter that many officers think 'the council' only refers to the cabinet."

The authority has now begun the process of implementing the ARZ all over again, and has advertised its intentions to make the order.

It will come before a meeting of the full council next month.

Waltham Forest police Supt Adrian Hutchinson said police officers had acted within the spirit of the law and stopped using the powers as soon as the council informed them of the error.

Supt Hutchinson said: "I am confident that any action taken by my officers was always designed to reduce the fear and disorder that street drinking can cause.”

A council spokesman said the people responsible for the error are no longer employed by the authority.

Cllr Afzal Akram, council cabinet member for community safety, said: "As soon as we realised the alcohol restriction zone in Leytonstone was not legally binding we reached agreement with the police, to stop enforcing the zone until it could be properly introduced.

"Individuals who act in an anti-social or criminal manner will be dealt with under different powers."

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