A ban on face coverings in Nottingham city centre will come into force within days, the council has announced.

Nottingham City Council launched a consultation on possible new powers to ban face coverings at the beginning of August.

It comes as an additional restriction on a new Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO), which came into force at the end of July.

This PSPO gives police and community protection officers extra powers to crack down on aggressive charity collections, noisy buskers, public urination, and unauthorised Big Issue salespeople.

Under the additional rules, authorised officers will soon have the power to require a person to remove a face covering where it is used to conceal their identity while committing, or being involved in, crime or anti-social behaviour, or where it is worn in a way that causes intimidation, harassment, alarm or distress.

Councillor Neghat Khan, the leader of the council, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service a two-week consultation on the face coverings ban had received more than 2,200 responses, with 90 per cent supporting the action.

“It is really to tackle that anti-social behaviour and that intimidation around crime,” she said.

“With the hot weather we have seen, not just this summer but last year as well, people on e-bikes and the rest of it covering their faces and causing trouble.

“I think this PSPO and now the additional powers that the police and council officers will now get will make Nottingham city centre feel safer.”

Concerns over crime and anti-social behaviour in the city peaked in November last year, when the city was enveloped in fear after two groups of youths brandishing machetes confronted one another in Old Market Square during the Winter Wonderland Christmas market.

A few months earlier, young people donning face coverings gained access to the vacant Debenhams building, before throwing roof tiles and projectiles off the historic landmark building.

Cllr Khan said she believed the face covering ban could help prevent similar incidents in the future.

The Labour-led council says evidence has shown clear support for a ban, with “repeated incidents involving individuals wearing face coverings linked to anti-social behaviour, theft, public disorder and weapons-related incidents”.

There is further evidence from Nottinghamshire Police, with the force’s city centre-focused Operation Reclaim identifying face coverings “as a key factor contributing to fear of crime and reduced feelings of safety”.

“I think it is definitely needed and it will make Nottingham feel a lot safer,” Cllr Khan added.

“I’ve been clear that I want Nottingham to be a safer city, if not the safest city in the country. This will be a big step in the right direction.”

The face coverings restriction will come into effect on Tuesday, September 15.

People who wear face coverings for religious, medical or any other legitimate reasons will be exempt.

By Joe Locker (Local Democracy Reporter)