Thatcham Town Centre Public Space Protection Order (PSPO): background information

There is a Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO) in place in Thatcham town centre. The Order first came into effect on 11th November 2022. It was extended on 11th November 2025.

The order will last for 3 years although it can be varied and extended.

You can Icon for pdf read the extended order here [305KB] .

What the PSPO is

West Berkshire Council has introduced a Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO) to provide additional tools to deal with a number of antisocial issues which cause concern to those who live, visit or work in Thatcham town centre.

The Order introduces restrictions that apply to everyone within the restricted area. They are designed to ensure the law-abiding majority can enjoy public spaces, safe from antisocial behaviour.

You can read the order and find general information about PSPOs here.

Restrictions the PSPO covers

The Order covers the following activities:

antisocial behaviour

The Order is a preventative measure with restriction allowing police officers and police community support officers (PCSO's) to request that the behaviour is stopped before a breach occurs.

An illustration of person shouting in a prohibition sign (a red circle with a diagonal red line through it).

If someone behaving in an antisocial manner fails to leave the restricted area after being asked to do so by a police officer or PCSO, a breach of the PSPO will occur. If you are requested to leave the restricted area you will be given a 'direction to leave' form not to return to the area for a period of time not exceeding 24 hours.

Map of the restricted area:

If someone breaches the Order

Officers will take a measured approach. They will engage, explain and encourage those at risk of breaching the Order through education and warnings. Enforcement will be a last resort.

Failure to comply with the Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO) is a criminal offence and carries a maximum fine of £1,000 if convicted. However, in most cases where it is deemed necessary to take enforcement, the offence would be dealt with by way of a Fixed Penalty Notice. Agencies will continue to ensure that support is provided to those who need it.

Who enforces the Order

The Order will be enforced by police officers and police community support officers (PCSOs). There are no new resources to enforce the Order so policing activity will continue to be prioritised based on up-to-date information and intelligence, which will be used to identify hotspot areas.

Reporting antisocial behaviour

See our antisocial behaviour (ASB) webpage for information on what ASB is and how to report it.

Background information

Thatcham town centre is a repeat location for antisocial behaviour, and this has had significant community impact. Therefore, we were asked to consider the introduction of a new PSPO for this area.

When considering what could be included in a PSPO, we know that we need to balance things that people want in order to feel safer and happier in the town, whilst at the same time not being seen to be stopping people enjoying themselves or introducing rules and regulations that can't be enforced.

2022 consultation

We proposed a restriction to tackle antisocial behaviour (namely behaviour which causes nuisance, harassment, alarm or distress) in Thatcham town centre:

any person behaving in a manner that has caused, or is likely to cause nuisance, harassment, alarm or distress must leave the restricted area when requested to do so by an authorised officer for a specified time, and not return to that area for a period not exceeding 24 hours

For example, a group is behaving antisocially in Thatcham town centre and the police attend. The group are asked to leave the area by the police officers and are all given 'Direction to Leave' forms advising them not to return to the area for 24 hours.

some of the group leave the area when asked to do so and do not return - they have not committed a criminal offence and won't be fined
some of the group leave the area when asked to do so, but then return to the area within 24 hours - they have breached the PSPO, committed a criminal offence and may be fined
some of the group do not leave the area when asked to do so - they have breached the PSPO, committed a criminal offence and may be fined

We asked for the views of our local residents, businesses, agencies, and visitors to Thatcham in relation to the proposed restriction to be included in the PSPO and the proposed restricted area to be covered by the PSPO.

We ran a survey and held pop-up events in and around Thatcham Town. The survey closed on 3 April 2022and took about 5 minutes to complete.

The initial findings from the consultation were taken to the Building Communities Together Partnership, a sub-group of the Health and Wellbeing Committee for recommendation on the final decision. The final decision was made by Individual Executive Member Decision.

What you told us

We received 282 responses from the 6-week consultation. We found that a large majority of respondents supported the proposed restrictions. 84.67% of respondents who answered the question, supported the proposed antisocial behaviour restriction; 9.49% of respondents did not support the proposal.

What we did

The results of the consultation showed that a PSPO would be supported by those living, working and visiting Thatcham town centre. The local police area and Thatcham town council were also supportive of the application.

The Building Communities Together Partnership were advised of the results of the consultation on 05/05/2022. The Partnership agreed that is appropriate to progress the application of the Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO) for Thatcham town centre and recommended the Order is made as proposed as part of the consultation.

The recommendation of the Building Communities Together Partnership was taken into account when the final decision was made by West Berkshire Council's Service Director for Development and Regulation on 12/07/2022. The Delegated Officer Decision was that the Public Spaces Protection Order for Thatcham town centre be granted and implemented for 3 years.