MERSTHAM is set to become an alcohol-free zone, with police handed the power to force drinkers off the streets.
Drunks and antisocial louts blighting the area will be stripped of their liquor if the powers are enacted.
It comes after "constant" problems with boozed-up troublemakers upsetting residents, including hurling abuse at passers-by and using public areas as latrines.
The borough's neighbourhood police inspector, Richard Haycock, said: "It is a problem that obviously we wish to tackle very firmly, and a Designated Public Places Order (DPPO) gives us that ability.
"It is about antisocial behaviour, it is not only about alcohol. Where there is antisocial behaviour or where we anticipate there could be, we will take action.
"If people are sitting having a picnic and enjoying a glass of wine, we are not going to insist on them pouring it away.
"But we have people congregating, drinking to excess on the streets, where people have to walk past, and get abused. There has been some pretty nasty stuff, like people using public areas as toilets and people being really worse for wear for drink in public places."
Mr Haycock said a successful DPPO introduced in Redhill in 2007 may have pushed drinkers into Merstham. There are no other places covered by the measure, and no plans to introduce it anywhere else nearby.
Ash Patel, who has worked at the Londis in Nutfield Road since 1987, agreed alcohol is a problem.
He said: "People are walking around drinking all the time, from morning to night. People are buying their alcohol as soon as the shops open. Cars are getting vandalised, and when people are drunk they are always on the edge, waiting for a fight, and you get it in here."
But he doubted whether the DPPO would be effective, and blamed the problem on too many off-licences – there are 11 in the area covered by the order, and 4 in Nutfield Road alone.
Karen Harding, 63, a resident in Serpentine Green, said the problem also blights the area around Portland Drive.
"You get wasters walking around the streets with a can and it gets really rough," she said. "It can be intimidating. It's not nice to come out in Merstham at night. It's just horrible, so I think this is a good idea."
If the DPPO is enacted, anyone who continues drinking after being asked to stop can be fined £500, or arrested and charged.
Anyone who wants to comment on the application should contact Debbie Stitt, community safety manager, Town Hall, Castlefield Road, Reigate, RH2 0SH, or e-mail debbie.stitt@reigate-banstead. gov.uk, by August 2.
