Police in Ipswich have hailed the progress made in tackling anti-social behaviour in the town centre, as the number of hotspots has been reduced.

Following consistent reports by people in the town centre and around the Westgate ward of anti-social behaviour problems, Suffolk police officers have been carrying out a series of measures to curb the problem.

Among those have been a series of proactive patrols in which alcohol has been seized from individuals to stop drunken behaviour, and associated problem behaviour.

Ipswich Central safer neighbourhood inspector, Sarsfield Donohue, said: “As a result of issues raised by the local communities we became aware that drinking, and the anti-social behaviour associated with it - including theft - has become a concern across the Central Ipswich area.

“Consequently, we have adopted this as one of our main local policing priorities. Part of the work to address this is to work alongside our partners, in particular Ipswich Borough Council, to identify and signpost those individuals who require treatment to change their behaviour towards relevant support agencies. However we will also deal pro-actively with those we find committing offences.”

As part of the police’s Reducing the Strength campaign, officers have been working with off licenses in town to remove super strength alcohol sold in individual cans, which has reduced the number of alcohol seizures being made.

Other measures such as clearing vegetation in the problem hotspot behind St Clement Church has also meant anti-social individuals have moved away from the area.

Insp Donohue added: “We encourage people to report any street drinking matters and anti-social behaviour to us as the more we know about where it’s happening, the better we can target our response to it. This can be done via the Ipswich Borough Council website, or by contacting the Central Ipswich Safer Neighbourhood Team on 101, or emailing IpswichCentral.Snt@suffolk.pnn.police.uk.”