A county-wide alcohol order would replace the 13-town rules on 21 October. The draft goes wider than the council says; comments close noon Friday 9 October.

Northumberland County Council wants to extend its rules on drinking in public from 13 towns to every public place in the county. The new order would start on Wednesday 21 October 2026. Residents have until 12 noon on Friday 9 October to comment.

The council says the plan is aimed only at drinking that causes trouble. Its own draft order is worded more widely than that, and the consultation is the time to say whether that matters.

What changes

The current alcohol Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO) was made on 20 October 2020. The council extended it in October 2023, and it runs out on 20 October 2026 (notice of extension).

When the council consulted on the 2020 order, it named 13 places it would cover (council, September 2020):

  • Alnwick, Amble and Ashington
  • West Bedlington, Berwick and Blyth
  • Corbridge, Cramlington and Haltwhistle
  • Hexham, Morpeth, Prudhoe and Wylam

The replacement would cover “any public place within the administrative County of Northumberland”, according to the notice of consultation dated 9 September. That takes in villages, beaches, parks and country lanes that the old order never reached.

What the order would let police and council officers do

Under the draft order, a police officer or an authorised council officer who believes someone is breaching it could require them to:

  • stop drinking, or not start
  • hand over any alcohol, or any container they believe holds alcohol
  • give their full name, address and date of birth

Refusing to stop drinking or to hand over alcohol is an offence carrying a fine of up to level 2 on the standard scale. Breaching the prohibition itself, or giving false details, carries up to level 3. Those levels are currently £500 and £1,000 (Criminal Justice Act 1982, section 37). Officers can offer a fixed penalty instead. Neither the draft nor the notice says how much that would be.

The order would last three years, and the council could extend it again.

Where it would not apply

The draft exempts:

  • pubs, bars and other premises with a premises licence or a club premises certificate, and their grounds
  • places covered by a temporary event notice, and for 30 minutes after
  • pavement café areas licensed under section 115E of the Highways Act 1980
  • council-run licensed premises while they are serving, and for 30 minutes after

The wording residents may want to look at

The council’s news release of 29 September says the order “would not ban drinking in public”. It says the order is not meant to stop a glass of wine on a picnic or on the beach, and is aimed at “the small minority” whose drinking leads to anti-social behaviour.

The notice of consultation describes it the same way. It says the order would prohibit drinking “in any manner which amounts to, or which is reasonably likely to lead to” anti-social behaviour, nuisance or annoyance.

Paragraph 5 of the draft order, the clause that actually sets the restriction, is shorter. It reads:

The consumption of alcohol within the Restricted Area is prohibited subject to the exemptions specified in paragraph 6 below.

The “Restricted Area” is defined as any public place in the county. The anti-social behaviour test appears in paragraph 4, which describes “the Activities” the order is aimed at, but it is not repeated in paragraph 5.

We are not lawyers, and the council’s stated intention is clear. But anyone who wants the narrower test written into the restriction itself can say so in the consultation, before the order is sealed.

What it means for you

  • If you drink responsibly outdoors, the council says nothing changes for you. Its stated aim is drinking that causes anti-social behaviour, nuisance or annoyance.
  • If you live outside the 13 towns, officers would gain powers in your area for the first time. That cuts both ways: more help where there is a problem, and powers that reach places where there has not been one.
  • If you run a pub, bar or café, licensed areas and licensed pavement seating are exempt.
  • To have your say, email SaferN.Partnership@northumberland365.onmicrosoft.com or write to Martin Brooks, Strategic Community Safety Officer, Northumberland County Council, West Hartford Business Park, Cramlington NE23 3JP. Responses must arrive by 12 noon on Friday 9 October 2026. The full proposal is on the council’s consultation page.

The council says no decision has been made and that it will consider every response before deciding whether to make the order. If it is not made by 20 October, the current order lapses and the 13 towns would have no alcohol PSPO at all.

Councillor Gordon Stewart, Cabinet Member for Public Safety, said: “The vast majority of residents use our public spaces respectfully, and these powers are aimed solely at the small minority whose behaviour can make others feel unsafe or uncomfortable.”

The council has a separate Parks and Green Spaces PSPO, listed on its neighbourhood problems page under Druridge Bay Country Park. This consultation does not change it.

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