Woman Banned From Drinking in Two Countries

Meet Laura Hall - the first person banned from buying or drinking alcohol anywhere in England and Wales.

The 20-year-old has been issued with an order barring her from entering any pub, club, off-licence or bar for the next two years.

Hall is also banned from buying alcohol at any other establishment or shop, carrying it in an unsealed container or drinking it in a public place.

Police applied to magistrates after Hall was convicted of breaching an Anti-Social Behaviour Order - known as an Asbo - imposed for unspecified incidents.

She was convicted of a series of public order offences and flouted bans from pubs and clubs through a local scheme in her home town of Bromsgrove, Worcestershire.

Her ban comes as a study found that female binge-drinking had almost doubled in the past decade in the UK.

According to government statistics, the number of women involved in alcohol-related crime rose 30 per cent between 2005 and 2007.

Kidderminster Magistrates' Court was told Hall faced a �2500 ($4127) fine if she breaks the conditions of the order.

"There have been some drinking ban orders issued already but this is the first to be issued on a nationwide basis," Sergeant David Roberts said.

"It bans Laura from drinking or buying alcohol in any licensed premises across England and Wales. This will protect the public from Laura's behaviour."

Officers applied for the order rather than another Asbo because Hall would be at risk of prison if she breached it again.

"We want to rehabilitate her rather than send her to jail," Sgt Roberts said.

Under the terms of the order, Hall must attend an approved alcohol misuse course.

Since their introduction in September, police and local authorities can ask magistrates to impose the orders on anyone responsible for alcohol-fuelled crime or anti-social behaviour to stop them drinking or entering licensed premises.

They cannot be issued to anyone with mental health problems or alcoholics.

But Institute of Alcohol Studies spokeswoman Rachel Seabrook said: "I think most of the disorder problems we see around alcohol reflect a lack of police enforcement powers and policing laws.

"I am not opposed in principle but I do have doubts about whether it's a realistic thing to enforce. How can a police officer in Wales know whether this women has been banned if she turns up in his town?"