Officers say they are continuing to ‘crackdown’ on anti-social behaviour in Wigan
An aerial view of Wigan town centre(Image: Copyright Unknown)
A dispersal order will be put in place in Wigan town centre for a third time in under a fortnight as part of a crackdown on anti-social behaviour.
A 48-hour order covering the entire town centre was issued last Thursday (September 11). A second was then authorised earlier this week and was in force from 4.50pm on Sunday to the same time on Tuesday (September 14 to 16).
At that time, Greater Manchester Police (GMP) said there had been numerous ‘reported incidents of groups causing harassment and distress for residents and local businesses’ including ‘groups of youths causing issues and making threats.’
Today (Friday, September 19), GMP said a further order would again be put in place this weekend.
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It comes into force at 3pm on Friday and will remain active until 3pm on Sunday (September 21).
They say it is due to ‘reports of anti-social behaviour incidents in the town centre over previous weekends.’
The area covered by the latest dispersal order(Image: Greater Manchester Police)
The order, made under Section 34 of the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act, gives officers the power to instruct anyone who is causing, or very likely to cause harassment, alarm, or distress to leave the specified area immediately.
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The force says there will also be an increased police presence in and around the town centre as they ‘continue to utilise powers to crack down on anti-social behaviour.’
Neighbourhood Inspector Lisa Morris, from GMP’s Wigan district, said: “We issued a dispersal order at the start of the week and are once again doing so to tackle anti-social behaviour which has been causing issues within the town centre recently.
“This order grants officers the powers to instruct people to leave areas if they are causing issues – and they won’t hesitate to do so to help ensure the law-abiding public can visit the town centre without the fear of ASB.
“If you have any queries, do please speak to an officer, who will be more than happy to assist you.”
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