Begging and street drinking ban coming to entire Southport town centre
New rules could also see people prosecuted for blocking pavements or gathering in groups
Hello and welcome to the 98th edition of The Southport Lead.
If you’ve spent much time in Southport town centre, you’ll likely have seen people sat on the floor drinking. Such behaviour is often described as a deterrent to visitors and Sefton Council is moving closer with its plans to tackle this and today’s edition takes a closer look at that.
Often, the people involved in this are in need of assistance and the council suggests the measures aren’t designed to simply kick the problem elsewhere, with the charities Light for Life and Change Grow Live still to be asked to offer support.
Before that, let me direct you to the below post from The Lead’s national title which outlines the way you can help children in poverty this Christmas - including a link to donate to Southport-based Compassion Acts as well as regional and national organisations.
In December, we are offering 20% off the price of a subscription if you make it as a gift to somebody else. You can read about our special Christmas offer here.
Southport briefing
🏅 Sergio Aguiar and David Stancombe, the fathers of Alice and Elsie, have been honoured at the Sports Personality of the Year Awards. The two dads ran the 2025 London Marathon this year, with Sergio raising funds towards a new playground at Alice and Bebe’s Churchtown Primary School, while David ran for Elsie’s Story, the charity set up in his daughter’s memory. The pair were given the Helen Rollason Award - which recognises outstanding achievement in the face of adversity - by former Liverpool FC striker Robbie Fowler and comedian and ex-Southport FC player John Bishop. David said: “I’m very grateful to accept the award tonight but I’m just a dad keeping a promise to his little girl. Elsie wanted me to run the London Marathon and I did. It gave me a massive focus through the hardest time I’ve ever lived through.”
🎾 Plans to install padel courts at Victoria Park have been approved by Sefton Council. The proposal will see the creation of the town’s first facilities for a sport which is rapidly growing in popularity. Three of the park’s tennis courts will be lost to make way for the new padel centre, with the remaining three to be refurbished to an improved standard. Of the new padel courts, one will be covered to allow all-weather play and there will also be a grab and go coffee kiosk with outdoor seating including with the development.
🗎 Administrators handling the affairs of The 79th Group - which is currently under criminal investigation and described by police as a large scale Ponzi scheme - have been approached by a potential buyer of some of the the company’s 33% stake in mining company First Class Metals. The Southport Lead last month reported that the shares were bought for £1m after police had raided the company and made three arrests and just weeks before administrators were called in. In an statement to shareholders, First Class Metals said: “The Joint Administrators have been approached by a potential purchaser for a part of the 79Grp Shares but have not yet entered into discussions with any potential purchaser to purchase a controlling interest and there is no guarantee that either a controlling interest or otherwise will be sold or acquired.” It added that the administrators are seeking further potential purchasers for either some or all of the shares.
Public drinking ban to be enforced in Southport town centre with offenders facing fines or prosecution
By Jamie Lopez
Street drinking and begging are set to be banned anywhere in Southport town centre.
Under new measures drawn up to tackle anti-social behaviour, the likes of spitting and urinating will be explicitly banned and offenders will face the risk of fines or prosecution. Other proposed measures from Sefton Council include banning people from gathering on the street or other public places in groups of three or more.
The ban would be enforced through a new public space protection order (PSPO) which has been drafted following a public consultation and will apply to both Southport and Bootle town centres.
A previous PSPO covered both the town centres and the coast but these were separated when a decision was made to lift restrictions on alcohol near the beaches. The previous order was also less strict which, the council says, meant it “has been challenging for officers to issue fixed penalty notices for persistent drinking in public spaces as there is not always overt antisocial behaviour taking place”. As a result, persistent street drinking has proven difficult to manage.
The proposal was first presented to a Safer Sefton Together – Community Safety Partnership meeting in September 2025 and approved to move forward for consultation. According to Sefton Council, the results of that survey showed that 92% of people had witnessed ASB in the town centre but only 20% had reported it, largely down to not believing any action would be taken.
