Glastonbury antisocial behaviour crackdown risks being ‘blunt instrument’
Experts say Glastonbury’s crackdown on street drinking and disorder could fail without enforceable fines.
Last updated 4th Dec 2025
Efforts to crack down on antisocial behaviour in Glastonbury may prove ineffective – because those responsible often cannot afford to pay fines.
Avon and Somerset Constabulary has been working with Somerset Council and others within the Safer Somerset Partnership to implement a new public space protection order (PSPO), allowing officers to fine individuals for antisocial behaviour, street drinking and other unwanted activities.
Councillor Ewan Cameron – one of two Glastonbury division members – called on the partnership to implement the PSPO before May 1 in a bid to protect local businesses heading into the main tourist season.
Officers responded that the PSPO would prove ineffective if used as a “blunt instrument”, stating there was no point issuing fines which could not be properly enforced or collected.
Mr Cameron discussed the issues at a workshop in Glastonbury on November 7 with local MP Sarah Dyke, attended by fellow councillor Federica Smith-Roberts and police inspector Rachel Clark.
He subsequently raised this during a meeting of the council’s adults and health scrutiny committee in Bridgwater on November 20 – one of his first public contributions since winning his seat in a by-election in late-October.
He said: “It’s recognised by the residents of Glastonbury that additional resources have been allocated.
“One of the things that came out from the meeting on November 7 is that it’s probably going to take at least six months or more to get a Glastonbury PSPO.
“Having canvassed many of those at the meeting, and those who were not, the general feeling from the business community in Glastonbury is that the PSPO needs to be in place by Beltane – that is, May 1 – but preferably by April 1.
“Is there any way we can make certain that PSPO is in place by April 1? I’m willing to work with anyone in order to get it across the line.”
Mr Cameron (who lives in the neighbouring village of Baltonsborough) described himself as a “pagan, Saracens fan, Greenman and advocate for local causes” in his election material.
Claire Stewart from the Safer Somerset Partnership said that a PSPO was “a great tool, but not the only tool” available for reducing antisocial behaviour in Glastonbury and other parts of the county.
She said: “The reason why we’ve been slower in Somerset to act on PSPOs compared to other parts of the country has been the legacy of the way we worked on antisocial behaviour in partnership in the past.
“There has been a significant uplift in funding at a time that the council has found itself in a difficult position, giving us a team that is fit for purpose and inches away from being fully resourced.
“Before now, there wasn’t really any ability for the local authority to service the PSPO. We might have had a PSPO, but it would have been a blunt instrument, with officers going around issuing warnings and tickets which then couldn’t be enforced.
“In Glastonbury, and in Taunton and some of our homeless communities, we’ve had a ‘toothless tiger’ situation where we’ve issued warnings to people who would never be able to pay the fines.
“We have actually all got together to work out how we are going to enact and respond to good PSPOs across Somerset where this is required as an additional tool. But good partnership policing in towns is the way forward.”
Lucy Macready, the council’s strategic manager for community safety, added that implementing too many similar PSPOs in one part of Somerset would stretch police and council resources even thinner, making it doubly difficult for the orders to be successfully and consistently enforced.
She said: “It’s important to note that there are a number of areas in Somerset which are asking for the same thing, so we are looking at those areas.
“If we look at these in isolation ,we could get ourselves into a situation where we applying similar PSPOs but then we can’t enforce them, because that requires us to be everywhere at the same time.
“We are trying to be as quick as we can, but also as cautious as we can. If we rush it, the consequence will be what we had last time – a blunt instrument that causes such disenfranchisement with the community and a lot of grievances.
“We know that there are some entrenched vulnerabilities in Glastonbury, such as street drinking – we know who those individuals are and we are also looking at what else we can do.
“If we’re just applying the PSPO to the same people all the time, and they’re just refusing to pay the fines, then it won’t work.
“There’s a lot of moving parts to this, but please be assured we are looking at this and we will do this as quick as we can.”