ePetition details

In June 2026, Stafford Borough Council approved exactly this measure: an updated PSPO explicitly banning identity-concealing face coverings in response to what their own council report described as an "emerging issue of youth adults wearing coverings to cause harassment, alarm or distress." As Stafford's Cabinet Member for Community stated: "Fear of crime can be just as intimidating as an actual crime occurring."

Cambridge faces the same trend. Bicycle crime is, in Cambridgeshire Constabulary's own words, "by far the most prevalent single offence category in the city, with cycle thefts being reported daily" (Cambridgeshire Constabulary, cambs.police.uk). Cambridge consistently ranks as the worst or second-worst area in England and Wales for cycle theft per head of population, with approximately 1,000 thefts formally reported in the Cambridge postcode area in the year to April 2026, and Cambridge North station recording more bicycle thefts than any other railway station in the UK in 2024 (British Transport Police data, via bikes.org.uk, 2025). The true total is significantly higher, as surveys indicate the majority of thefts go unreported.

Organised groups are using balaclavas as a deliberate tactic, not for warmth, but to defeat CCTV and facial recognition, scout high-value theft locations, and operate with total anonymity.

This is not an untested mechanism. It is an established and evidenced national approach.

The London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham introduced a borough-wide ASB PSPO explicitly restricting face coverings worn to conceal identity and cause alarm or distress, approved February 2026 (H&F Democratic Services, decision ref. ID=5086). The City of Wolverhampton introduced an equivalent city centre PSPO in July 2024. In the year following its introduction, overall city centre crime fell by 16% and robberies dropped by half (City of Wolverhampton Council; Express and Star, October 2025). Stafford Borough Council approved a comparable measure in June 2026 (BBC News, 22 June 2026).

Cambridgeshire Constabulary has demonstrated clear commitment to tackling this through targeted enforcement operations. However, officers currently face a distinct legal barrier: demanding the removal of a face covering requires a temporary, pre-authorised Section 60AA order. A permanent PSPO would give frontline officers and council wardens an immediate, proactive power to intervene and disrupt these individuals before a theft or act of intimidation occurs.

We call on Cambridge City Council to debate this issue, consult Cambridgeshire Constabulary, and introduce a targeted PSPO to protect residents and their property.

This ePetition runs from 01/07/2026 to 01/10/2026.

102 people have signed this ePetition.