How will Nottingham's 'balaclava ban' be enforced?

The ban came into effect on September 15, with Nottingham City Council’s newly-approved powers giving police and community protection officers the ability to demand that face coverings are removed if there is a belief they are being worn to engage in anti-social behaviour and intimidation.

If the coverings are not removed, the wearer could face a £70 on-the-spot fine.

Repeat or unco-operative offenders could face prosecution.

Coun Neghat Khan (Lab), council leader, said: “If they are suspecting you of causing anti-social behaviour or intimidation, they will ask you to remove the face covering.

“They have the powers to do that, unless it is for religious or medical reasons.

“They won’t have the power to just go up to anybody and ask them, they have got to have grounds.

"It will be like stop and search.”

She said failure to co-operate ‘is a criminal offence’, adding: “You could be arrested for it and taken to court."

The ban itself comes as an additional restriction tacked on to a new Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO), which came into force at the end of July.

The PSPO gives police and community protection officers extra powers to crack down on aggressive charity collections, noisy buskers, public urination, and unauthorised Big Issue salespeople.

It will cover an area from Mansfield Road just short of the Forest Recreation Ground to the north, the area up to Victoria Park bordering St Ann’s to the east, the area around the railway station up to Meadows Way to the south, and finally the streets around Nottingham Castle, including Derby Road, to the west.

A public consultation on a face coverings ban found the wearing of them ‘contributes to feelings of intimidation and fear, particularly when worn by groups involved in activities causing ‘harassment, alarm or distress’.

Coun Matt Shannon (Lab), executive member for community protection, neighbourhoods and equalities, when asked about how the ban would be effectively enforced, said: “The other thing which we are talking to the police about with Operation Reclaim, is we are targeting drug networks that are operating in and around the city.

"You will probably find that if people do continue to wear these masks, it gives police a reason to stop them and then discover whether they are, for example, transporting drugs or the like.”

While more than 90 per cent of over 2,000 respondents supported the ban, there were some concerns over the police and other authorised officers abusing the powers.

But Coun Shannon said: “This isn’t about targeting people who wear face coverings for legitimate reasons, this is about targeting criminals who feel immune while wearing face-coverings to intimidate Nottingham people.

Supt Chris Pearson, of Nottinghamshire Police, added: “We are fully supportive of the proposed face covering restrictions in Nottingham city centre which will provide the police and partnership with greater powers to tackle the issue.

“We are fully supportive of the PSPO and we are fully committed to ensuring that Nottingham city centre is the safest place to live, work and visit.”