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Eight Ashfield alleyways across Sutton, Kirkby and Hucknall and described by authorities as “catalysts for crime and anti-social behaviour” are expected to be closed.

Ashfield Council’s cabinet will discuss a legal public spaces protection order next week, before it is presented to next month’s full council.

A PSPO is a legal tool used by councils to clamp down on crime and anti-social behaviour. It allows council teams and police to fine people breaching its rules.

A separate district-wide order is already in place targeting nuisances like public drinking and dog fouling.

Councillors and officers inspect one of the alleyways set for closure.

The new order will target four hotspot alleyways in Sutton’s New Cross area, three in Kirkby’s Coxmoor Estate and one in Hucknall.

The four Sutton routes include a service road behind Outram Street – connecting Downing Street to North Street – known locally as ‘mucky alley’.

This route already has CCTV installed after being described by councillors as a “drive-thru for fly-tippers”.

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The order also includes two public rights of way connecting Bramley Court with Bentinck Street and Sutton Lawn, as well as the passage between Welbeck Street and Portland Close.

The Kirkby alleys include land next to 40 Rosewood Drive and two connecting Spruce Grove to Poplar Avenue and Beacon Drive.

The remaining alleyway is behind 34-37 Rockwood Walk, Hucknall.

Speaking when the PSPO consultation was launched in November, cabinet members said the order had been a “long time coming”.

Coun Samantha Deakin, council portfolio holder for parks, town centres and environmental services and member for Sutton Central and New Cross, said: “It shows a clear message we won’t tolerate the anti-social behaviour, the levels of drugs and alcohol and everything else that happens in these alleyways to make life difficult for residents.”

Plans for the PSPO came after concerns about anti-social behaviour in the alleyways, including littering and fly-tipping, the use of off-road motorbikes and ‘nuisance vehicles’, large groups gathering, drug use and drug dealing, criminal damage and residents reporting “feelings of being unsafe”.

Cabinet members will discuss the PSPO after a consultation found overwhelming support for the order, with 124 out of 128 respondents believing fines should be handed out to people breaching the PSPO.

A council report said 835 incidents were recorded across the alleys in 2022, including 327 on ‘mucky alley’ alone.

‘Hotspot’ Ashfield alleys expected to be shut by March through new public order