Drunken revellers face �80 fines

[YT]

Drunken revellers caught misbehaving face on-the-spot fines during a festive crackdown on binge drinking in 188 communities across the country.

Police in England and Wales will be handing out �80 fines to people caught fighting, urinating or being sick in the street, the government has warned.

So what do you think? Should such actions be instantly punished and is �80 a sufficient deterrent?

[Miss Zippy]

 Does the risk of a fine stop (the same) people from driving uninsured or with no tax? It�s the government paying lip service to a problem that has many causes and cannot be stopped by the threat of an �80 fine. I�d have thought the administrative effort and costs involved in chasing up these fines will be fairly burdensome.  Personally, whilst being sick and urinating in public is undoubtedly distasteful, I don�t think this sort of behaviour deserves to be fined and the government shouldn�t expect an overstretched Police force to be concentrating its effort on such petty matters.   

[El D]

another brillliantly thought out govt plan. I will wait and see how many people puking in the street are able to give suitable details and not waste any police resources.

[Zen]

Another Stealth tax ??
I

[Yeah Bee]

NO, I will be poor. But seriusly aren't there more pressing needs

[Ouisch]

I'm not a UK native, but I've visited there on 14 separate holidays...I must admit, I was surprised to see obvious public drunkeness.  (And I'm from the Detroit area, where we see pretty much everything.  And I've known people who weren't able to hold it in and used an alley as a comfort station, and were arrested as a result.)  Anyway, I saw people urinating and vomiting right in the street, and was repulsed by it.  I don't know if �80 will deter anyone, but I think some sort of penalty is in order.

[andy hughes]

The issue of anitsocial behavior should not be punishing it when it happens, but preventing it from happening in the first place. if we can educate our children and young adults that drinking to a level of vomiting and falling over does  not actually equate with having a good time, then we will be on our way to stopping this attitude that sobriety is boring. The simle fact is, alcohol abuse is ingrained in our society, combined with the revenues generated by its sale, and we are now stuck in a downward spiral from which there is no obvious exit. Education (that concept that each government tampers with ad infinitum) is the answer, but no-one seems keen to begin.