Drinking in the street at a winter event: what public spaces protection orders say about alcohol in England and Wales

A mulled wine in a cup is easy to carry out of a market and down the street, and where a council in England or Wales has made an order banning drinking alcohol in that public place, that walk can put the drinker in breach of it. The orders are public spaces protection orders under the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014. This article sets out what the Act says about them, which areas it exempts from alcohol bans, and what that means for an event that serves drinks in a public place. It reports the Act and not any particular council's order, because each order says what it says.

What an order is

Section 59 lets a local authority make a public spaces protection order if it is satisfied on reasonable grounds that two conditions are met. The first is that activities in a public place in its area have had, or are likely to have, a detrimental effect on the quality of life of those in the locality. The second is that the effect is, or is likely to be, persistent or continuing, such as to make the activities unreasonable, and such as to justify the restrictions imposed. An order identifies a restricted area and prohibits specified things, requires specified things, or does both. The only prohibitions or requirements allowed are ones that are reasonable to impose to prevent, or reduce the risk of, the detrimental effect. A prohibition can apply to everyone or to specified categories, at all times or at specified times.

Section 74 defines a public place as any place to which the public or any section of it has access, on payment or otherwise, as of right or by virtue of express or implied permission. Unlike the definition of a street in street trading law, then, a ticketed area can be a public place. A local authority in England is a district council, a county council with no district council, a London borough council, the Common Council of the City of London or the Council of the Isles of Scilly, and in Wales a county or county borough council.

How long an order lasts and how it is made

An order cannot last more than three years unless extended under section 60, and an extension can be for up to three years and can be made more than once. Section 61 lets the council vary or discharge an order. Under section 72, before making, extending or varying an order the council must consult the chief officer of police, the local policing body, whatever community representatives it thinks appropriate, and the owner or occupier of land within the restricted area where it is reasonably practicable, and it must publish the text of a proposed order. In making the decision it must have particular regard to the rights of freedom of expression and freedom of assembly. In our reading, a market organiser that occupies land within a restricted area is one of the people a council has to consult where that is reasonably practicable.

Alcohol: where an order does not apply

Sections 62 and 63 deal with orders that prohibit consuming alcohol. Under section 62(1), such a prohibition does not apply to:

- premises, other than council-operated licensed premises, authorised by a premises licence to be used for the supply of alcohol; - premises authorised by a club premises certificate to be used by the club for the supply of alcohol; - a place within the curtilage of either of those; - premises which by virtue of Part 5 of the Licensing Act 2003 may at the relevant time be used for the supply of alcohol, or could have been so used within the 30 minutes before that time; - a place where facilities or activities relating to the sale or consumption of alcohol are permitted by a permission under section 115E of the Highways Act 1980, or by a pavement licence under section 1 of the Business and Planning Act 2020.

Part 5 of the Licensing Act 2003 was not read for this article. In our reading, an area used under a Temporary Event Notice for the dates it covers is within the fourth item, but the Act should be checked before relying on that. Our guide to Temporary Event Notices covers that route and our guide to pavement licences covers the last. Council-operated licensed premises have their own rule in section 62(2): the exemption applies only while they are in use for supply of alcohol and for 30 minutes afterwards.

Powers and offences

Under section 63, where a constable or an authorised person reasonably believes that a person is consuming or has consumed alcohol in breach of a prohibition in an order, or intends to, they may require the person not to drink, and to surrender anything which is, or which they reasonably believe to be, alcohol or a container for alcohol. They must tell the person that failing to comply without reasonable excuse is an offence, and an authorised person's requirement is not valid if they cannot show evidence of authorisation when asked. The offence carries a fine on summary conviction of up to level 2 on the standard scale.

Under section 67, doing anything an order prohibits without reasonable excuse is an offence with a fine of up to level 3, but section 67(4) says consuming alcohol in breach of an order is not an offence under that section, because section 63 covers it. Section 68 allows a fixed penalty notice for an offence under section 63 or 67, which under section 68(6) must not be for more than 100 pounds until 25 October 2026. Section 4(5) of the Crime and Policing Act 2026 substitutes 500 pounds, and regulation 4(d) of S.I. 2026/960, made on 2 September 2026, brings section 4 into force on 26 October 2026. Proceedings cannot be taken for 14 days after the notice.

What this means for a street event

The Act sets the framework and leaves the content to each council's order. For a market or fair that serves alcohol, three points follow in our reading, and each is a question to put to the council.

- Whether any public spaces protection order covers the site, and what it prohibits. The order's text and map answer that, not the Act. - Whether the area where drinks are served and drunk is covered by a premises licence, a Temporary Event Notice or a pavement licence, because that is what section 62 turns on. - Whether customers who carry a drink beyond that area are outside it. A cup of mulled wine could be a container for alcohol under section 63(2)(b), and the exemption in section 62 is tied to the premises or place described, not to the drink.

The sections read do not mention glass or drinking vessels as such, beyond the power in section 63(2)(b) to require a person to surrender a container for alcohol, so whether an order says anything about them is a matter for its own text. Our guide to licence conditions on plastic drinkware covers the licensing side. Two other duties sit alongside this one for a winter market: street trading consent and registering a drinks stall as a food business.

Cups at the edge of an event

The cup hire page describes hire cups as shatterproof and says they are used at venues and outdoor events where glass is not practical. A shatterproof cup does not alter where an order applies. Where an event wants a clear boundary for its licensed area, the cup is one more thing to settle with the organiser, and a quote can start from the format and the quantity.

Where this stands

This was checked on 6 October 2026. The sections read extend to England and Wales and are up to date with the changes known to be in force on or before dates between 30 September and 6 October 2026. Changes from the Crime and Policing Act 2026 are listed as yet to be applied to the Act; the only one that touches a provision used here is the fixed penalty cap in section 68(6), which moves from 100 pounds to 500 pounds on 26 October 2026. Home Office guidance and individual council orders were not read.