Tuesday, August 30, 2005

Street drinking

Why is it OK to drink alcohol whilst sitting outside a licensed cafe, but not OK if you are sitting on a public bench in the Butter Market? The council wants to change a local byelaw that would give police new powers to confiscate alcohol from people who are or seem about to, drink in the centre of town (in an area defined in the exisitng byelaw). At the moment the police can only ask people to stop drinking (and fine them if they disobey). Presumably the council want to get rid of the Woolworths drinking school.

The Bury Free Press published a letter this week from a reader who wrote:

"I am not a hardcore drinker even though I sit on the bench [outside Woolworths] . I, like many other people after a hard day's work, like to have a drink to unwind. As I live in a bedsit in the town centre, I look on that bench as my back garden. So please remember that not everybody is fortunate to have a back garden."

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