A special order tackling anti-social behaviour in Haverfordwest town centre could be scrapped after councillors heard it was not considered “to be fit for purpose in its current form”.

At an October meeting, a Pembrokeshire County Council scrutiny committee was asked whether Haverfordwest’s Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO) should remain, with officers recommending it should not.

Full council will make the final decision. A report by joint cabinet member for communities, Cllr Aaron Carey, said there was “currently insufficient evidence to demonstrate that the continuation of the existing Public Spaces Protection Order remains necessary, proportionate and justified”.

PSPOs target specific anti-social behaviour that harms, or is likely to harm, people’s quality of life in an area.

The report said the town-centre PSPO restricted drinking in public spaces, targeted persistent anti-social behaviour linked to groups of youths and provided another way to tackle threatening behaviour.

Before councillors backed it in mid-2022, the Haverfordwest town-centre scheme had been discussed for some time, including through a public consultation and council debates.

Claims had been made that “gangs of feral children are roaming around town”, while members of the public faced verbal and physical abuse and a “criminal element” dealt drugs in Haverfordwest.

Police recorded 656 anti-social behaviour incidents across Pembrokeshire between last June and this May, including 162 in Haverfordwest.

Of the 162 incidents, just over 47 per cent involved groups, just over 44 per cent involved youths and just over 14 per cent involved alcohol; nearly a third involved young people gathering in groups.

The report said youth-related anti-social behaviour and groups gathering in public places—two key issues the PSPO was designed to tackle—remained relevant.

However, it said the relatively low number of alcohol-related incidents and other figures “raises questions regarding whether the current scope and restrictions contained within the PSPO remain proportionate and targeted towards the most prevalent forms of anti-social behaviour currently being experienced in Haverfordwest”.

The report said PSPO breaches could lead to fixed penalty notices, but Dyfed-Powys Police said it no longer issued them and instead pursued breaches through prosecution.

There have been no prosecutions for PSPO breaches in the town.

For those reasons, council officers said they “do not consider the current PSPO to be fit for purpose in its current form”.

Haverfordwest Garth county councillor Anji Tinley said: “This has had its chance to work with nothing to show for it, it was implemented to do a job that is different to what the PSPO was designed to do.”

Members backed a recommendation, with one abstention, that full council end the scheme. Full council will make the final decision later.