Street drinking, aggressive begging and riding e-scooters are set to be banned in a town centre following a spike in anti-social behaviour reports.

Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council plans to impose a new public space protection order (PSPO) covering Kidsgrove town centre to address various 'persistent behaviours' in the area.

Anyone who breaches a PSPO commits an offence and can face a £100 fine or prosecution.

Council chiefs say the order is a 'proportionate' response to rising problem of anti-social behaviour in Kidsgrove.

The number of ASB incidents recorded in Kidsgrove increased by 54 per cent to 177 over the last 12 months.

The proposed PSPO for Kidsgrove prohibits the same behaviours covered by the existing order in Newcastle town centre.

These include: being verbally abusive, consuming alcohol outside a licensed premise or 'intoxicating substances' such as novel psychoactive drugs, riding an e-scooter, persistent and aggressive begging, or erecting a temporary structure without the council's permission.

But unlike the forthcoming PSPO in Stafford, proposed order for Kidsgrove does not include a ban on face coverings.

The order covers the town centre area including Liverpool Road, Market Street, the Tesco and Aldi supermarkets, the railway station and Kidsgrove Sports Centre.

Members of the council's public protection committee agreed to put the proposed PSPO out to a 12-week consultation.

Neighbourhood delivery manager Michelle Hopper told the committee that the order would give officers and the police extra powers to deal with anti-social behaviour.

She said: "The order is intended to address a number of persistent behaviours that are having a detrimental impact on resident, businesses and visitors to the town centre. It provides proportionate powers to tackle those behaviours when engagement and other interventions have proved insufficient.

"ASB incidents in Kidsgrove have increased by approximately 54 per cent over the last 12 months. The proposed order is focused on specific behaviours within the town centre area.

"It provides officers and police with additional tools to address conduct that negatively impacts those who live, work or visit Kidsgrove."

Committee members were generally supportive of the PSPO, but raised concerns over how the order would be enforced as well as the decision to exclude a face coverings ban.

Councillor Joan Whieldon said: "The question is how can this be policed effectively. Effective means treating everyone the same.

"If young people want to be naughty, they'll stick something over their face.

"So if we include something in there on face coverings, it will be a belt and braces approach to it. So I would ask that this is considered."

Ms Hopper said there had not been 'sufficient evidence' to support the inclusion of a face covering ban. But she suggested that the issue would be considered again if the consultation found public support for such a prohibition.

The committee heard that the increase in ASB incidents in Kidsgrove had come following efforts to encourage residents and businesses to report problems whenever they occur.

Committee chair Simon Kasperowicz said many people felt they just had to put up with anti-social behaviour due to a lack of response from the authorities.

He said: "I went to a town council meeting recently, and I couldn't go and pay for petrol at Tesco because they'd locked the doors after two well-known drug addicts had come in and tried to steal things and were kicking off with staff.

"The staff were saying there's no point in reporting it because nothing gets done. People are just tolerating it."

Once the PSPO is adopted it will be in force for three years before being reviewed.