A BAN on drinking alcohol in Southend High Street could be extended following calls from exasperated residents.

People living in the town centre urged the council to stop people boozing between York Road and Southchurch Avenue.

At the moment, police can only confiscate alcohol when it is being drunk in the High Street.

But, during a Southend Council survey on plans to tighten controls on the town’s landlords, residents called for the zone to be expanded.

Jacqui Lansley, the council’s head of community strategy and development, said: “A common response within the consultation was a desire from residents to extend the drinking control area.

“The drinking control area could be extended to include York Road, from its junction with the High Street to its junction with Southchurch Avenue, and Southchurch Avenue itself, as both of these streets act as thoroughfares.”

Booze bans, which are brought in by the council but enforced by the police, are seen as a last-resort measure for curbing antisocial behaviour.

In 2010, council chiefs agreed to rule the Four Rivers Estate in Shoebury an alcohol-free zone following dozens of problems.

People living on the estate said the ban helped break up the gangs of intimidating youngsters who roamed the streets and made it a more friendly place for visitors and families.

A resident of York Road, who asked not to be named, said: “Because the road’s full of bedsits, you do get some characters down here who you probably wouldn’t want to live near.

“They drink all the time. I’m not sure if this would stop that, but it might stop it spilling out onto the street.”

If the scheme is expanded and deemed a success, council chiefs said the zone could be further widened to include other “high priority” roads.

Ms Lansley added: “An extension would need to be backed by evidence, while Essex Police and the Southend Multi-Agency Antisocial Behaviour Response Team would be the bodies responsible for implementing and enforcing any extension.”