Gideon Amos MP has called for action to stamp out anti-social behaviour in Taunton’s historic Castle Green during a speech in Parliament on Monday (March 10).

Speaking during the second reading of the Crime and Policing Bill, Mr Amos (Liberal Democrats, Taunton and Wellington) said he wanted to see a Public Space Protection Order introduced in the area.

The orders aim to stamp out a particular nuisance or problem which is damaging to a local community’s quality of life.

Mr Amos said he welcomed many of the measures in the Bill, particularly those concerning knife crime and the protection of shop workers “who all too often bear the brunt of anti-social behaviour.”

But he added: “One of the biggest deterrents for criminals is the certainty of being caught, and reductions in police numbers nationally are as wrong as they are locally.

“In Avon and Somerset, the former Conservative Police and Crime Commissioner cut PCSOs by a further 80 last year - a massive 28 per cent reduction - following the closure of our main Taunton police station.”

Mr Amos said that, last autumn, he had been contacted by businesses in Castle Green which were “at their wit’s end” because of the area’s anti-social behaviour.

“I am really grateful to Avon and Somerset officers for the efforts they have put in, as I am to the chamber of commerce in Taunton, which has raised the general issue of town centre crime and convened the Safer Streets forum I attended last week.

“But it is clear that we need to deter anti-social behaviour and crime where it is taking place.”

Mr Amos told the Commons that, on Friday, he had toured the town centre with Nick Barber, a Street Marshal employed by Taunton Town Council.

He said: “He is doing an excellent job and covering a huge range of work, from people climbing all over the rooftops to retrieving thousands of pounds’ worth of stock by simply asking the person responsible to hand it over. He must have been quite persuasive in asking the individual to do that.

“But, when I visited Castle Green with Nick, it was clear that the anti-social behaviour problems there have become intractable.

“I, therefore, suggest that we need to work with Somerset Council to get a Public Space Protection Order, and I hope the Government will support its enforcement.

“Too many of our great community events are marred by the anti-social few, and we need to tackle that.

“We need the public space of Castle Green – with its superb independent market, our famous Castle Hotel, the scheduled ancient monument which is the castle itself, and the Museum of Somerset where soon people will be able to see the Chew Valley Hoard of silver coins from the Norman Conquest.

“I cannot use those coins to pay for the enforcement of the Public Space Protection Order.

“But I hope it will have Government support so we can ensure that key public spaces are not subject to conquest by those who would disobey the law, wreak havoc among local people, damage livelihoods and tarnish the generally superb reputation of our county town.”