ANTI-SOCIAL drinking in Hatfield is on the slide, a new report suggests.

At a meeting of Welwyn Hatfield Council’s licensing committee on Thursday, community safety manager Tim Beyer said the introduction of a Designated Public Place Order (DPPO) in central Hatfield was proving effective in stopping people abusing alcohol in public.

A DPPO makes it an offence for someone to drink alcohol in a designated zone after being told by a police officer to stop. Failure to do so can incur a penalty of �80 or an arrest and a fine of �500 if convicted.

Since the introduction of the DPPO in Hatfield in March 2008, Mr Beyer said people have shown “almost total compliance” when told to stop drinking.

“It (the DPPO) seems to have been effective,” Mr Beyer said. “The level of compliance is almost 100 per cent.

“Anybody seen drinking by an officer has either tipped it away or finished it without being asked. The officers are very happy with the measures; it’s made their life easier in managing the town centre.”

The DPPO in Hatfield is in place from the top of St Albans Road East, throughout Hatfield town centre and down to the bottom of Cavendish Way.