Private security staff, council wardens and football stewards may be given the power to issue on-the-spot fines for public disorder.

A Home Office plan, which chief constables are considering, comes after an admission that in some parts of the country people see police enforcement as excessive.

The proposal suggests that community safety officials such as council wardens, private security guards and vehicle inspectors should operate as part of a three-tier policing structure, sharing responsibility with the police and police community support officers (PCSOs). However, the moves will be resisted by the Police Federation, which already believes the rise in the number of PCSOs is an attempt by the Government to get policing on the cheap.

Chief constables in England and Wales are already allowed to set up community accreditation schemes under which organisations helping to promote neighbourhood safety are given limited powers for such things as confiscating alcohol from under-18s and issuing fixed penalty notices for littering. The Home Office guide said: “It is particularly beneficial to use accredited persons to target those problems that are deemed unsuitable for the police because police enforcement might be seen to be excessive.”

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