Sutton's 17 drinking orders end on 20 October. A single borough-wide order would add dog, riding, loudspeaker and barbecue rules, with fines up to £500.
Sutton Council wants to replace its 17 street-drinking orders with one borough-wide order that goes much further. It would cover dog fouling, dogs off leads, nuisance riding on pavements, loudspeakers on the High Street, and barbecues in parks. Fixed penalties could rise to £500.
Councillors on the Strategy and Resources Committee will be asked on Monday 5 October to approve a public consultation on the draft (committee report, agenda item 12).
The existing orders expire on 20 October. The new one would not come into force until March 2027, so for about four and a half months there would be no order at all.
What the draft order would ban
These are Public Spaces Protection Orders, or PSPOs. They let the council make certain behaviour in a public place a criminal offence. Most people caught breaching one are offered a fixed penalty notice instead of a prosecution.
The draft is titled the “London Borough of Sutton Public Spaces Protection Order (Borough-Wide Anti-social Behaviour) 2026” (draft order, Appendix A). Across the whole borough, it would ban:
- behaving in a way that causes harassment, alarm or distress after drinking, and refusing to stop drinking or hand over alcohol when told to
- failing to pick up after a dog straight away
- failing to keep a dog under “proper control”, or refusing to put it on a lead when told to
- riding a bike or any other vehicle on pavements, paths or pedestrian areas in a way that causes, or is likely to cause, “nuisance, annoyance or alarm”
- refusing to give a name and address, or giving a false one
- refusing to leave an area when told to, and returning within 24 hours
Some rules would apply only in named places:
- Overton Park, Sutton: dogs banned altogether.
- Sutton High Street and Beddington Park: no amplified sound that causes, or is likely to cause, nuisance or distress. The draft says this includes music from vehicles, busking, street performance, public speaking and street preaching. Officers could order the volume down or seize the equipment.
- Named parks and open spaces: no fires, barbecues (including disposables), fire pits, camping stoves or shisha burners, and no driving or riding motor vehicles without permission.
- Beddington Park and Elm Ponds: no fishing, including magnet fishing, and no carrying fishing tackle.
- Cheam Park, Beddington Park and Rosehill Bowls Club: no parking outside marked bays, and no overnight parking.
- Cheam Recreation Ground, Overton Park and Sutton Common Park: no using sports facilities that charge without booking and paying first.
The draft is not finished. The start and end dates, the list of parks and every map are marked “to be inserted”. That includes the list of places where dogs must stay on a lead. These should be filled in before the consultation opens.
Who is exempt
The dog rules would not apply to assistance dogs or to people training them. They would not apply to police dogs either.
Mobility scooters would be exempt from the riding and park-vehicle bans.
The loudspeaker ban would not apply to:
- council-authorised civic events
- the emergency services
- hearing and communication aids
- political demonstrations and other lawful protest
- processions organised under the Public Order Act
Drinking in pubs, licensed premises and licensed pavement seating would stay legal.
How big the fines could be
At the moment, anyone who refuses to stop drinking under one of the current orders can get an £80 fixed penalty, cut to £50 if paid within 10 days.
The legal maximum for a PSPO fixed penalty is £100 today. The report says that from 26 October 2026, Section 4 of the Crime and Policing Act 2026 raises it to £500.
The committee is asked to let the Director of Children’s Services set the new penalty, up to £500, in consultation with the committee chair, Councillor Barry Lewis. The note attached to the draft order already names a £500 fixed penalty. If a case goes to the magistrates’ court, the maximum fine is £1,000.
Enforcement would be carried out by the police and by officers from Kingdom Enforcement, a contractor. The report says the first month would focus on raising awareness, with enforcement from 1 April 2027.
The four-month gap
Sutton’s current orders cover 64 areas and date from October 2020. They were extended once, in 2023. They deal only with alcohol, and a PSPO can last no more than three years, so they cannot be extended again without a fresh consultation.
The report accepts there will be a gap between the old orders ending and any new order starting. It says the gap only affects drinking-related anti-social behaviour, which peaks in summer.
The timetable in the report is:
| Step | Date |
|---|---|
| Committee decides whether to consult | 5 October 2026 |
| Current orders expire, signs come down | 20 October 2026 |
| Eight-week consultation opens | 23 October 2026 |
| Consultation analysis and equality assessment | 11 January 2027 |
| Director decides whether to make the order | 22 February 2027 |
| New order in force | 3 March 2027 |
| Enforcement starts | 1 April 2027 |
If the consultation shows “significant opposition” to any of the measures, the report says the proposal comes back to the committee instead.
Why the council says it needs it
The report says Sutton “has consistently maintained the lowest rate of reported ASB across all London boroughs over the past four years”. It adds that the complaints residents most often make to the council and police are about dangerous riding on pavements, dog fouling and dogs out of control, and loudspeakers in town centres.
The council’s Community Safety Partnership reviewed those complaints before drafting the order. Its stated reason for one order in place of 17 is that it would be easier for residents to understand and for officers to enforce.
Under the 2014 Act, the council has to be satisfied that each banned activity has a “detrimental effect on the quality of life” of people in the area, and that the effect is persistent and unreasonable. Anyone who lives in, works in or regularly visits the area can challenge a PSPO in the High Court within six weeks of it being made.
What it means for you
- Nothing changes yet. The current drinking orders run until 20 October, and the new order cannot start before the consultation ends.
- You can have your say. If the committee approves it, the consultation is due to open on 23 October and run for eight weeks. We will link to it when it opens.
- Dog owners should look closely. A ban on dogs in Overton Park, and borough-wide rules on control and leads, are the changes most likely to affect daily routines. The list of lead-only areas has not been published yet.
- Cyclists and e-scooter riders: the riding rule covers pavements and paths, but only riding that causes, or is likely to cause, nuisance, annoyance or alarm.
- Park users: barbecues and disposable barbecues would be banned in the named parks. The list is not in the draft yet.
The committee meets at 7pm on Monday 5 October at the Civic Offices, St Nicholas Way (meeting papers). For other council services, see our guides to Sutton bin collection days and parking in Sutton.
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