92% of about 390 people backed Stafford's face coverings rule, with a £100 fine for refusing to remove one. The renewed PSPO is due to start in December.
Update, 16 September 2026: the result
The consultation has closed, and the council says the new measures were backed by residents.
- Around 390 people took part in the six-week consultation.
- The council says that is treble the number who responded last time.
- 92% of those who took part supported the face coverings rule.
- Anyone who refuses to remove a covering in the circumstances the rule covers faces a £100 fine.
- The council says the new provisions will be introduced in December.
“We received reports of people being ‘alarmed’ and ‘intimidated’ when confronted by those with face masks,” said Councillor Jill Hood, Cabinet Member for Communities. She said coverings can also make it hard for CCTV operators and witnesses to identify people involved in crime. (Stafford Borough Council, 14 September)
The council’s announcement gives support figures for the face coverings rule only. It does not say whether the rooftop ban, the loitering, busking and dog exclusion changes go ahead as proposed. We will report the final wording when the sealed order is published on the council’s PSPO page. The original consultation report follows.
The proposals, as consulted on
Residents have until Sunday 16 August to comment on a new set of street rules for Stafford borough, including, for the first time, a restriction on face coverings worn to hide identity and a ban on climbing onto rooftops. The proposals are part of Stafford Borough Council’s renewal of its borough-wide Public Spaces Protection Order, which came into force in December 2023 and expires on 6 December this year. (Stafford Borough Council, PSPO 2026 consultation)
A PSPO lets the council attach conditions to behaviour in public spaces, enforced with a £100 fixed penalty notice and prosecution if the fine goes unpaid. The council wants the renewed order in place from early December 2026, running for a further three years.
Two new restrictions
The face coverings proposal would not ban coverings outright. It targets coverings that substantially obscure the face only when they are worn in circumstances likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress, or to help commit crime, and the council says lawful wear, such as a scarf in cold weather, is explicitly excluded. Refusing a police request to remove a covering in those circumstances would carry the £100 penalty. “There will be a commonsense approach and nobody will be asked to take off a face covering unless they were looking to cause trouble,” said Councillor Jill Hood, cabinet member for community, in the council’s announcement. (Stafford Borough Council, 6 August)
The second new restriction would prohibit entering buildings, rooftops or other elevated structures without permission. The council cites incidents of people climbing on town buildings since January 2025.
What else would change
Three existing rules would be reshaped. The loitering condition, which currently only applies to groups of five or more people, would lose that threshold entirely and apply borough-wide wherever behaviour causes anti-social disturbance. The blanket ban on amplified sound for buskers in Stafford and Stone town centres would be replaced with a narrower rule that bites only when the equipment causes harassment, alarm, distress or a public nuisance. And dogs would be excluded from four more play areas: at Holmcroft, Westbridge Park, Charnley Park, and the playing fields near Cherry Tree Avenue in Great Bridgeford. (PSPO 2026 consultation)
The rest of the 2023 order would roll forward unchanged: the restrictions on street drinking, dog fouling and keeping dogs on leads where required, walking more than four dogs at once, vehicles and bikes, scooters and skateboards in pedestrianised areas, tents and structures in public spaces, canvassing, bird feeding, and barbecues. A separate PSPO targeting car cruising on the A34 took effect in May and is not part of this review. (Stafford Borough Council, PSPO)
The council said on 6 August that more than 300 responses had already come in, double the total for the 2023 review.
What it means for you
The consultation is closed, so there is no longer a way to comment. From December, expect the face coverings rule to apply across the borough, including the town centre: nobody should be asked to remove a covering unless it is being worn in connection with anti-social behaviour, crime, or behaviour causing harassment, alarm or distress. The existing 2023 order stays in force until it expires on 6 December. Questions about the order can go to communitysafety@staffordbc.gov.uk or 01785 619000. We will report the final version of the rules when it is made.
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