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Graffiti vandals and fly-tippers have 48 hours to clean it up

By Charles Hymas HOME AFFAIRS EDITOR

GRAFFITI vandals and fly-tippers will be forced to clear up their mess within 48 hours under a crackdown on antisocial behaviour to be announced next week by Rishi Sunak.

The Prime Minister will set out a package of measures that will include a ban on the sale and possession of nitrous oxide or laughing gas, targeting police at “hotspots” and drug testing of suspects across a wider range of offences.

Mr Sunak intends the new powers to “quickly and visibly punish” thugs whose bad behaviour blights communities’ lives. In January, he warned that antisocial behaviour could be a “gateway to more extreme crimes”.

He cited war memorials sprayed with graffiti, discarded nitrous oxide canisters and needles in playgrounds as examples of how antisocial behaviour made “life miserable for so many”.

People caught defacing buildings with graffiti or fly-tipping will have to spend up to 20 hours tidying it up within 48 hours of committing the offence. Local communities could be consulted on the punishments.

There will also be increased fines for vandalism, fly-tipping and littering. Ministers are also expected to signal a review of whether benefits could be docked for offenders who persistently breach antisocial behaviour orders

The Home Office will announce “hotspot policing” pilots where police officers, police community support officers and council wardens blitz areas blighted by antisocial behaviour.

They will be modelled on schemes for serious violence that have seen falls of up to 70 per cent in crime in targeted areas.

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2023-03-25T07:00:00.0000000Z

2023-03-25T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://dailytelegraph.pressreader.com/article/281762748506406

Daily Telegraph