Consultation launched on city centre balaclava ban

A public consultation has been launched on plans to ban face coverings in Nottingham city centre.

Under the proposals, police and community protection officers will be able to ask people to remove coverings if they "reasonably believe" they are being used to conceal their identity to commit crime or anti-social behaviour.

If people do not co-operate, they could be issued with a £70 on-the-spot fine or face prosecution with a maximum penalty of £1,000.

Matt Shannon, Nottingham City Council's executive member for neighbourhoods, waste and equalities, said the authority was "listening to what the people of Nottingham want to make the city safer".

"You get low-level anti-social behaviour like graffiti and vandalism where people feel like they're immune because they cover their face and aren't caught on CCTV," he said.

"On the other hand, we're working with police to help tackle drug networks. If you have drug couriers rushing through the city, you don't want them covering their face, you want them to be open to be stopped and seen for who they are."

The enforcement would not apply to face coverings worn for legitimate reasons, including religious, cultural, health, work, weather or personal safety reasons.

Shannon said it would be up to officers to determine whether or not coverings were being worn legitimately, and that there was "a lot of common sense in this".

"As with many enforcements like this, there is an ability for the officer on the ground to make that decision whether someone is being intentionally harassing or intimidating," he said.

Concerns about face coverings were raised during a separate consultation on a public spaces protection order (PSPO), which was recently introduced in an attempt to crack down on anti-social behaviour in the city.

It includes powers to tackle aggressive charity collections, noisy buskers, public urination and unauthorised Big Issue salespeople.

If the face covering ban is approved, it will be added to the existing PSPO, which came into effect in July.

Shannon has said he thinks the ban will not lead to tension in the community and will "make people feel safer around the city and reduce tensions overall".

"We've already seen some of the response from people who are trying to use this as a wider vehicle to attack mostly our Muslim citizens in the city," he said.

"I want to be very clear - this city has no interest in using the powers of the council to target our Muslim citizens and we will stand against anyone who does."

The consultation will run until 14 August and Shannon said if it received a positive response, the ban could come into force in September.

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