Hallowe'en dispersal order comes to Witham
It'll be in place from midday today
A dispersal order will be in place across all of Witham, tonight and tomorrow night.
It comes into effect from 12pm today (Thursday 31 October) and runs until 6am Saturday 2 November.
The area, as shown on the map below, covers Newlands Street, Powers Hall End, Hatfield Road, Rickstones Road and Highfields Road.
The area extends from the A12 Witham bypass to the east of Witham and across the residential areas of Witham including Great Eastern Main Lane, Bramston Sport Ground in the south, the west from Blunts Hall Road, Humber Road, Yare Avenue, Faulkbourne Road to Honeysuckle Way and up to Cressing Road, Saturn Way, the New Rickstones Academy, Rectory Lane and Benson Drive in the north areas of Witham.
The order is a preventative measure to allow police to prevent incidents of anti-social behaviour in the town, while others try and enjoy Halloween.
Inspector Phil Jackson said: “We are aware of reports of anti-social behaviour in Witham town, so we are taking proactive steps to make sure the law-abiding majority of the public can enjoy Halloween and Guy Fawkes evenings.
“We will have officers across the town and this order gives them the power to disperse any groups behaving anti-socially or disorderly in the town.
“Our officers will also be visiting local shops and businesses to make sure items often used in disorder, such as fireworks and eggs, are being sold responsibly.
“Our work to prevent ASB is already underway and we will robustly respond to reports of disorder, throughout this period.”