A ban on face coverings in Nottingham city centre will come into force next week, it has been confirmed.

From Tuesday 15 September, police and community protection officers will be able to ask people to remove coverings if they "reasonably believe" they are being used to conceal their identity to commit crime or anti-social behaviour.

If people do not co-operate, they could be issued with a £70 on-the-spot fine or face prosecution with a maximum penalty of £1,000.

Leader of Nottingham City Council, Neghat Khan, said residents had felt intimidated when they saw people wearing balaclavas, skeleton masks or other face coverings without a legitimate reason.

"Our residents should be able to live, work and spend time in Nottingham without feeling frightened or unsafe," Khan added. "That is why we are taking decisive action and becoming one of the first cities in the country to introduce a restriction of this kind.

"This is not about telling people what they can wear or targeting those who have a genuine reason for covering their face.

"It is about giving authorised officers the power to act where a face covering is being used to help conceal a person's identity in connection with crime or anti-social behaviour, or where it is worn in a manner that intimidates, harasses, alarms or distresses others."

The enforcement will not apply to face coverings worn for legitimate reasons, including religious, cultural, health, work, weather or personal safety reasons.

It will be up to officers to determine whether or not coverings are being worn legitimately.

More than 2,200 people took part in a consultation on the issue, with more than 90% supporting the measure, according to the city council.

Matt Shannon, executive member for community protection, neighbourhoods and equalities at the council, said: "This new power will be used proportionately and based on individual circumstances to give our teams another tool to tackle crime and anti-social behaviour in our city.

"This isn't about targeting people who wear face coverings for religious, medical or any other legitimate reasons, this is about targeting criminals who feel immune while wearing face coverings to intimidate Nottingham people."

Concerns about face coverings were first raised during a separate consultation on a public spaces protection order (PSPO), which was recently introduced in an attempt to crack down on anti-social behaviour in the city.

It includes powers to tackle aggressive charity collections, noisy buskers, public urination and unauthorised Big Issue salespeople.

Powers to enforce the face covering ban will be added to the existing PSPO, which came into effect in July.

It will, however, be subject to a "call-in period" of five working days from when the decision was made, during which a non-executive councillor can ask for it to be reconsidered.

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