Lincolnshire’s police chief is to be invited to Spalding to hear about residents’ anger over booze and drug-fuelled behaviour in the town.
The invitation for Chief Constable Neil Rhodes to visit Spalding is to come from John Hayes, MP for South Holland and The Deepings, as part of our We’ve Had Enough campaign to tackle anti-social behaviour, on-street drinking and disorder.
More than 1,700 people signed up to Mr Hayes’ five-point plan to address public anger over rowdiness, drug taking and crime in parts of the town centre, including Abbey Path and Gore Lane car park.
The plan calls for a police crackdown on anti-social behaviour, tougher enforcement of the ban on street drinking and action by South Holland District Council to tackle litter and graffiti issues.
If the visit goes ahead, Mr Rhodes will be presented with completed coupons from readers who were invited by the Lincolnshire Free Press and Spalding Guardian during August and September to sign up to the campaign.
Mr Hayes said: “The (We’ve Had Enough) campaign has been a great success in terms of public engagement in a unique way and people need to know what efforts are being made to address their concerns.
“I will speak to the Chief Constable’s office about coming to Spalding because it would be very good to present the coupons to him in consort with the newspaper.”
Mr Hayes confirmed he had written to Immigration Minister Mark Harper about working with police and UK Border Agency (UKBA) officials to deport non-UK nationals found guilty of “persistent anti-social and criminal behaviour” in Spalding.
He said: “We need to make it clear that anti-social behaviour is not acceptable and people who arrive here need to understand what standards of behaviour are acceptable to establish a norm which adheres to everybody’s sense of well-being and maintains the quality of life in Spalding.
“There is a determination on my part that anyone who comes here will be expected to behave properly because if they don’t and become a risk to the quality of life in Spalding, I will work with the UKBA and police to have them removed.”