Pub landlords have welcomed the ban on street drinking

The six-month trial, which starts on Tuesday, will give the police powers to arrest anyone who refuses to comply with the ban.

The legislation has been brought in by Rochester's councillors in a bid to tackle anti-social behaviour in the town.

Ted Baker, Conservative councillor for Rochester West, said he believed the trial would be welcomed by residents.

If it is policed properly it will be the best thing since fried bread Landlord Bill King

He said: "Our problems have been with the young lager louts, who tend to come along and knock people off pavements, make things generally uncomfortable and make people frightened to come out when they are about."

Mr Baker said he had been campaigning for the past five years to ban drinking in the street.

"We hope we will find the improvements we want and the people who cause the trouble will have got the message," he said.

Bill King, of the Jolly Knight pub in Rochester, said landlords supported the ban but were concerned it would not be enforced by police.

'Paper bye-law'

He said: "We think it might turn into a paper bye-law and not be policed properly.

"If it is policed properly it will be the best thing since fried bread."

Sergeant Paul Hodgkinson, of Kent Police, said the alcohol-free zone would be enforced by regular patrols in the day and evening.

"If we believe that someone is or has been consuming alcohol in an alcohol free zone, we will issue a warning to that person," he said.

"If a person refuses to stop drinking, without reasonable cause, it is an offence and the person can be arrested."