COUNCILLORS this week gave their blessing to a by-law which would ban drinking in public in parts of High Wycombe, Marlow and Princes Risborough.

In High Wycombe the police are keen to clamp down on a hard core of alcoholics at Frogmoor who the town's police chief, Inspector George Wrigley, says hang about day and night getting more and more drunk.

'We can't do anything about them until they cause trouble," he said.

With a ban on outdoor drinking he will be able to remove them quickly.

In Newbury they have banned public drinking since 1987 and on Monday two members of the Newbury police came along to tell members of Wycombe's community and leisure committee how it worked.

They made it clear that police were glad to see the back of the drinkers. Families coming to the town centre to shop or in the evening no longer had to step over comatose drunks and the town centre was a far more pleasant place.

Insp Wrigley said the ban would tie in with other steps being taken to clean up the town centre such as Wycombe Watch.