Three places are looking to add prohibitions on covering your face as part of a Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO).
Business crime reduction in Nottingham city centre featured in the June 2026 edition of Professional Security Magazine. Nottingham City Council has launched a two-week consultation closing on August 14 about a proposed addition to the city centre PSPO. An authorised officer (from the police, and council community safety patrollers) could require someone to remove a face covering if they reasonably believed it was being used to conceal their identity for the purpose of committing crime or anti-social behaviour, or causing intimidation, harassment, alarm or distress. Police noted that in the city centre PSPO consultation, which received more than 1,300 responses, face coverings, masks and balaclavas were among the issues frequently mentioned.
Nottinghamshire Police City Commander Supt Chris Pearson, said police want the public to visit and enjoy the city centre without a minority making them feel intimidated and uncomfortable. He said: “Young people are wearing balaclavas for one reason and one reason alone โ to conceal their identity. There is absolutely no justified reason to be wearing balaclavas during the summer we’ve had.
“We know that a vast majority of those young people wearing balaclavas are involved in anti-social behaviour and other criminality including drug dealing. We will not hesitate as a police force to confiscate their balaclavas if they are found to be involved in crime. This is part of our dedicated anti-social behaviour operation in the city centre. We now have 29 young people on our watchlist who are causing the most harm to our city.
“We will use all the powers at our disposal to make life as difficult as possible for them to enter the city centre and cause problems, including taking them home to their parents or guardians. We are fully supportive of the balaclava ban in Nottingham city centre which will provide us with greater powers to deal with the issue.”
Police op
Police in Nottingham city centre are running Operation Reclaim; using the ‘Clear, Hold, Build’ approach, as in use elsewhereย such as Manchester, working with partners such as local government against among other things youth ASB, drug dealing, weapon-carrying, illegal e-bike use and retail crime.
Stafford
Stafford Borough Council is holding a review of its PSPO – such orders have to be reviewed or allowed to lapse after three years – and is running a consultation until August 16 online at www.staffordbc.gov.uk/pspo-2026-consultation. Anna Nevin, Head of Wellbeing at the council, said nobody would be asked to take off a face covering unless they were looking to cause trouble. It follows feedback from local police about how to support them in tackling anti-social behaviour and other offences. She said:ย โOther areas of the country have already implemented this provision in a PSPO and more are in the process of introducing it. Anti-social behaviour can blight the lives of communities and we, along with other agencies, want to try and make sure our borough is a safe and welcoming place to live, work and visit.โ
More on Stafford PSPOs at www.staffordbc.gov.uk/pspo. Stafford’s also covers people climbing on the roofs of buildings in the town, drinking alcohol on the streets, and (like many PSPOs) not cleaning up dogโs mess in public areas.
Woking
And after aย six-week public consultation, Woking Borough Council is bringing in a similar town centre PSPO including face coverings (excluding for medical, religious, or health and safety-related coverings). Steve Greentree, Woking councilโs Portfolio Holder for Community Safety, said: “Whilst Woking has been recognised as one of the safest towns in the UK, we recognise the impact that persistent anti-social behaviour can have on residents, businesses and visitors, and are committed to taking action to address it. The PSPO will help us tackle the issues identified and complement the ongoing work of Surrey Police and our partners to ensure the town centre remains a place where everyone feels safe.”
Photo by Mark Rowe: Cambridge city centre PSPO sign, prohibiting touting for customers for punting on the river.
