A COUNCILLOR has called for answers following an eight-month delay in introducing an alcohol ban in a Swindon park.

Swindon Council Labour leader Coun Derique Montaut said an anti-drinking order should have been put in place earlier to reduce antisocial behaviour in Faringdon Road Park.

Mr Montaut said families had been put off visiting the town centre park because of unruly drunken behaviour.

In January this year a Swindon Council licensing committee backed plans for a ban on alcohol in the area.

But it took until August for a Designated Public Place Order to be issued by the Tory-run council.

Coun Montaut said: “The fact eight months has gone by and nothing happened is very disappointing.

“People are afraid to go to the park because of the antisocial behaviour there and that’s why this was first suggested.

“Eight months is too long to make people wait. The residents deserve to be told why it has taken so long.”

Colin Lovell, the council’s cabinet member for a safer and stronger borough, has released a statement, printed below, regarding how the order came into force.

Wiltshire Police said the order meant it was now a criminal offence to drink alcohol or possess containers of alcohol in the park.

The ban was introduced in response to an increase in antisocial behaviour, littering and assaults in and around the park area, a Wiltshire Police spokeswoman said.

Warning signs have been placed in the park highlighting it is a “no alcohol” zone.

Officers from Kingshill and Westcott Neighbourhood Policing Teams have been tasked with enforcing the order.

Police said anyone seen drinking alcohol or possessing containers of alcohol in the park would have the drinks seized and destroyed. Persistent offenders risk a £50 fine or arrest.

PC Gareth Snoad, beat manager for Kingshill and Westcott, said: “I am very pleased this ban has been introduced and hope it will significantly reduce levels of antisocial behaviour.”

COUNCILLOR Colin Lovell (Con, Moredon) said: “The licensing committee agreed to consult on a proposal to introduce a Designated Public Place Order, not just for Faringdon Road Park, but for surrounding streets, on January 7, 2009. “The legislation requires that a first public notice should be placed in a newspaper and that pub licensees should be contacted. “The minimum consultation period in law is 28 days from the date of publication of the notice but it was left open for longer, to ensure that nobody was prevented from expressing their view. “The outcome of that consultation was reported to licensing committee on June 15, 2009. Rather than hold a meeting specially to discuss the order, it was put on an agenda which covered a range of other matters, including street trading and animal welfare. “By law, the resolution required ratification by a meeting of full council and that took place on the next available occasion on 16 July. “The statute also requires that another public notice is published in a newspaper before an order can come into effect. The public notice was published, giving three weeks before the order took effect.”