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Dateline: 8th August, 2004 "Appalling" Curfew Plans Plans by the Metropolitan Police to impose a 9pm to 6am curfew on under-16 year olds unaccompanied by an adult in Oxford Street, Leicester Square, Trafalgar Square and Piccadilly Circus have been branded "appalling" by SOLT chief executive Richard Pulford, according to a report in The Stage. The curfew, announced on 29th July, is to be imposed under the Anti-Social Behaviour Act (2003), under which Police and councils have been given powers to disperse groups of two or more from an area if they are likely to cause "alarm, harassment or distress", and is part of a raft of measures being taken acros the country to control anti-social behaviour by gangs of youths. The curfew was agreed by the police and Westminster City Council, which is responsible for the West End, because of concerns over petty crime and under-age drinking. Those who are stopped by police will, under the terms of the order, be escorted back to their homes. However police say they will not stop everyone, but will concentrate on vulnerable lone children and gangs causing trouble. Sir Ian Blair, the Met deputy commissioner, said the new powers, were "extremely appropriate". "I don't think any responsible parent would like their 15-year-old unaccompanied in the West End after 9pm," he added. According to Pulford, the ban was introduced without consultation with SOLT and will, he believes, have a "disastrous" effect on West End box offices. There is no reason, he thinks, that a young person should not attend a West End performance without an adult but this will mean that they have to be on the streets after nine o'clock. "I believe it will put off a number of people, including parents, going to the West End, which would be disastrous," he said. The introduction of what are being called "dispersal areas" (which will also include Victoria and Paddington) follows a similar scheme in Somers Town, Camden, which was used to target gangs of youths and drug addicts, and which came into force in June. Groups of residents there have expressed themselves to be enthusiastic about the order. This is a pilot scheme and will be reviewed at the beginning of 2005. Please note that all three Archive indices are very long and will therefore take some time to download.
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