A CWMBRAN man was arrested for drinking in the town centre within two days of an alcohol ban, police revealed today.

Police arrested the man in The Mall in Cwmbran Shopping. Only two days earlier Gwent Police and the Cwmbran Safety Partnership launched a crackdown on town centre drinking to cut down on anti-social behaviour.

Drinking outside anywhere in Cwmbran town centre is now illegal. Police can confiscate alcohol, and if drinkers refuse they can be arrested and punished with a £500 fine.

The arrested man will appear before magistrates at a later date. PC Darrell Dewar, crime and disorder reduction officer in Cwmbran, said the drinking ban is proving effective.

"I am sure this will send out the message that police will enforce the ban." The ban was introduced after numerous complaints about anti-social behaviour from teens drinking in Gwent Square after dark.

PC Dewar said the public response to the measures has been positive so far, but some have criticised them as being too tough.

"It may well seem draconian to some, but Cwmbran Shopping is not a designated place for drinking," said PC Dewar. "It is a shopping centre, and the interests of shoppers and others using it must be protected."

A similar order will be put in place in Blaenavon later this year, and there have been calls for a drinking ban on the streets of Pontypool.

Also from today, Cwmbran police have new powers to disperse people under the Anti-Social Behaviour Act 2003.

The dispersal order allows police to move on two or more people behaving in an anti-social way and ban them from the town centre for 24 hours.

And between the hours of 9pm and 6am youths under 16 caught hanging around the town centre will be taken home by police, or taken to a police station where they will be collected by their parents.