DOZENS of councils have banned shouting, threatening to slap Brits with fines for yelling across the road.
The restrictions come under orders designed to stop antisocial issues – but some councils are criminalising everyday behaviour.
PSPOs have fines of up to £1,000 – and are meant to tackle issues with drinking in public places Credit: Alamy
Brent Council has put up a sign threatening five years in prison for feeding the birds Credit: LDRS/Michael Britton
A survey of 300 councils found that 61 have brought in shouting bans under public spaces protection orders.
PSPOs have fines of up to £1,000 – and are meant to tackle issues with public drinking or out of control .
Guildford Borough Council has banned “intentionally shouting or screaming”.
The local authority in Waverley, Surrey, barred “intentionally or recklessly, shouting, swearing, screaming”.
Canterbury Council has put up signs banning shouting in the open countryside.
In St Ives, Cornwall, a council was forced to U-Turn on a ban on “loitering for the purposes of hair braiding or applying henna tattoos”.
Some local authorities are also banning standing in groups, foraging for blackberries, feeding birds or picking up stones.
The director of the Campaign for Freedom in Everyday Life, which carried out the research, slammed the restrictions in The Telegraph.
Josie Appleton said: “It is incredible that you could now be handed a fine for swearing in the street, shouting across a road, or staring at someone.
“Council officers have been given the power to criminalise behaviour that has never before been a matter for the .”
It comes after The Sun reported how councils have for swearing in public, feeding birds and smoking in company cars.
Authorities doled out thousands of £100-a-go penalties for “petty” offences – including playing games in the street and failing to take in the bin.
Some 143 councils in and have hit people with more than 44,000 penalty notices under so-called Public Space Protection Orders in the past three years.
Data revealed under freedom of information laws showed town halls doling out fines for “wild bird feeding”, “obscene gestures” and “not presenting bins correctly”.
In posh Greenwich, south-east London, officials fined 185 people for swearing or making “obscene gestures”.
In north-east , two people were fined for in company vehicles – while another 12 were punished for using metal detectors.
Council doled out 1,511 fines between 2023 and 2025 for “litter-related” offences, while Boston Council fined 37 people for feeding .
In , two fines were issued to people trying to tout river punting trips.
Councils in , and Newark punished homeowners for failing to “present bins correctly” or leaving them out.
Doncaster Council issued one fine to people playing “street games”.
who “excessively” beep their horns could also be hit with a £100 charge under a council crackdown.
Tandridge District Council in put forward the new to ban
However, it added that the specifics of this would be decided during a three-month consultation.
It comes after a woman was arrested and fined
She was later freed and handed a note describing the offence as “throwing bread on the floor”.
It added that the woman had received a warning “but chose not to comply so were called”.
She issued a fixed penalty notice of £100 which she was ordered to pay within 28 days or risk prosecution.
Eze Chidiebere Paul
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