TOWN constables are backing calls for a restriction of consumption of alcohol in the streets. And they see merit in licensing fast-food outlets in an effort to improve litter problems.

‘The Constables of St Peter Port, together with the States Public Services Department, go to great lengths to ensure that the streets of St Peter Port are kept clean,’ said senior parish constable Richard Barneby. ‘The actions of a minority should not deter the majority from enjoying our wonderful Town,’ he said.

‘The constables would support, under certain circumstances, a restriction on the consumption of alcohol in public places and they see merit in the licensing of fast-food outlets in an effort to improve the associated litter problem,’ said Mr Barneby. ‘There is no doubt that an increased police presence on the streets would be welcomed. However, St Peter Port is not and should never become a no-go area,’ he said.

Vlade Zekavica, owner of Vlade and Yugo’s fast-food takeaway outlets at North Plantation, accepted problems were caused by customers after they had bought food at his premises.

He said bigger bins in the area might be one of the answers.

‘There are plenty of bins, but customers just throw their rubbish on the floor,’ he said.

He added that he and his staff cleaned up any litter around their premises every night.

‘When it’s windy, sometimes it blows somewhere else,’ said Mr Zekavica.

He said that police in the area could ask more people to pick up their rubbish and that on-the-spot fines for littering might be worth looking at.

‘Some people put their rubbish in the bins – it’s not everybody.

‘It’s mainly people, when they are drunk, throwing it on the floor,’ he said. ‘If people can see they can get fined, they are more likely to put it in the bin.’

The comments followed warnings by election candidates at pre-election meetings that Town needed cleaning up or the island would not attract tourists.

The state of Town after people have had a night out was branded a shambles by some candidates at the Vale hustings.

‘Town is our showpiece – we really have to get our act together or we are in danger of losing what we have got,’ said one.

Another candidate said: ‘We desperately need to stop drinking on the streets of Town so you can’t walk around with a bottle of beer in your hand.’

But other candidates claimed that Town was safe.

‘This is not Brixton, this is Guernsey – we don’t have drug dealers on the sides of our streets,’ they said.

‘I would like to see a bit more of a police presence after 11pm,’ said another candidate.

At the Castel hustings meeting, the growing amount of antisocial behaviour and yobbishness, especially in Town, raised concerns.