Council bosses push forward with town balaclava ban

Council bosses are pushing ahead with plans to ban face coverings in Loughborough town centre.

Charnwood Borough Council said it wanted to bring in new rules allowing £100 penalties to be issued to people who conceal their identity with scarves, masks and balaclavas while committing crime and anti-social behaviour.

The Labour-run authority said the move would not apply to coverings worn for religious, cultural or medical reasons.

The council's cabinet last night said it would run a 28-day public consultation on the proposal but that it aimed to bring in the new rule early in 2027.

The measure is part of a wider move to update the town's existing public space protection order (PSPO) and enlarge the area it covers.

It follows complaints that masked youths have been intimidating shop staff as well as stealing motorbikes and e-bikes and riding them dangerously around the town.

Liz Blackshaw, the council's cabinet lead member for communities and neighbourhoods, said: "Loughborough is a great town centre. It is safe. It's enjoyable and welcoming and this order will help us keep it that way.

"It's only if you're committing anti-social behaviour that we are interested in whether you have got your face covered."

Chairman of the Loughborough Business Improvement District (BID) Lez Cope-Newman said: "Businesses are saying that staff are intimidated by people going in in masks and balaclavas and stealing.

"On the high street and Baxtergate they are hurtling down doing wheelies, making a heck of a racket and that is frightening people."

The proposed face-covering restrictions follow a similar ban introduced in Nottingham city centre on 15 September.

The action in Nottingham comes after Reform UK leader Nigel Farage called for full face coverings, including those worn for religious reasons, to be banned in public following masked protesters gathering in Dover.

Elsewhere in the country, Stafford Borough Council approved plans to prohibit balaclavas as part of its updated PSPO earlier this year.

More recently, community leaders in the West Midlands said they would like to see their region follow suit following the ban in Nottingham.

An earlier public consultation on the proposed Loughborough PSPO - which received 278 responses - saw 93.5% of respondents agree or strongly agree with a ban on face coverings used to cause anti-social behaviour.

Council documents state an authorised officer, such as a police community support officer, would be able to require a person to remove the face covering.

If the request was not complied with, a fixed penalty could be issued and, if that was not paid, a court prosecution could follow.

The existing PSPO contains two orders relating to the consumption of alcohol within the designated area.

As well as the ban on balaclavas, the proposed extension of the PSPO would also ban riding bicycles, e-bikes or e-scooters in a manner that is "dangerous, careless or inconsiderate".

It adds this includes behaviours such as "excessive speed, weaving through pedestrians, or performing stunts".

The proposed PSPO would also prohibit loitering in any public place, either alone or as part of a group, in a manner that is "causing, or is likely to cause, nuisance, harassment, alarm or distress to others".

It would also target urinating or defecating in streets, parks, car parks, open spaces, or any other publicly accessible outdoor location.

The order, if given final approval, would last three years.

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