Vehicle nuisance added to order covering Rotherham town centre and Clifton Park

A PSPO – public space protection order – was brought in by RMBC in October 2020 and has just been renewed for another year.

It continues to give police and council enforcement officers additional powers to deal with behaviour including urinating in public, spitting, and drinking alcohol when told to stop.

Dogs must also be kept on leads, except for the designated exercise areas at Clifton Park.

“Being in charge of a motor vehicle and using it to cause a nuisance or anti-social behaviour” has been added to the PSPO this time around.

RMBC leader Cllr Chris Read said: “When this was introduced, we had a look at the motor vehicle nuisance then and hadn’t seen the evidence base for doing it at that point in time.

“But we are aware of further concerns since then, so we are giving this a go as a way of seeing if we can ameliorate that, particularly with more people living in the town centre.

“We will see where we are in a year’s time.”

Complaints about anti-social behaviour have increased marginally in the past couple of years, peaking with 36 in October 2022.

Nearly two-thirds of incidents related to “rowdy or inconsiderate” behaviour, followed by begging and vehicle nuisance.

Consultation on the PSPO took place from June to August 2023, with a second round following during October because of the low number of responses.