SPENDING a penny could cost as much as £500 if people are caught urinating in a public place under plans to tackle alcohol-related problems.

SPENDING a penny could cost as much as £500 if people are caught urinating in a public place under plans to tackle alcohol-related problems.

On Monday, members of Wycombe District Council's community and leisure committee discussed the possibility of introducing a by-law to create drink-free areas in High Wycombe town centre.

There was some debate about where the new restrictions would be applied as the meeting heard councillors would prefer to stop people from relieving themselves in shop doorways rather than the 'leafy areas' of the town and they would like to ban drinking from specific areas.

They also discussed recruiting a researcher to study the issue locally for six months.

Cllr Pam Priestley (Con, Icknield) said: 'I accept that it is anti-social behaviour urinating in a public place but if we are going to make a by-law against it I think this council would have a duty to keep the public toilets open.'

Cllr Nigel Vickery (Lab, Booker and Castlefield) said: 'I think it is an indictment of civil liberties. If somebody is drunk on the street it is the police's responsibility to remove the drunks.

'I think of families who will go down on The Rye and have a glass of wine with a picnic. This would be against the local law because it is banned in public.'

Members decided to defer decisions about alcohol-related issues until a future meeting of the community and leisure committee.