A BAN on drinking alcohol in the streets of Kirkbymoorside has been labelled as "disproportionate" and will drive tourists from the town because of the image it would create, it was claimed by a local councillor this week.

Coun Andy Suter told the town council: "Kirkbymoorside doesn't have a Micklegate run such as York, nor like the town centre of Scarborough."

He said that people who had been drinking in the street in the hot summer last year had been watching the World Cup. There were sufficient laws to stop under-18-year-olds drinking in public, said Coun Suter, who questioned what would happen at the traditional Boxing Day hunt meet when the stirrup cup was handed round.

The drinking ban was "excessive", he said, for such a town as Kirkbymoorside.

"It will be an anti-business slur on Kirkbymoorside," he said, adding that people would not visit the town, especially families, if it was perceived to have a drinking problem which needed action.

His plea received support from Coun Gaynor de Barr, who said she had not been aware of any problems and questioned why Helmsley had not been included in such a ban. But Coun Anthony Riby believed the moves had been made by the police, and passed on to Ryedale District Council for action, following complaints. He said that families were more likely to visit Kirkbymoorside if it did have a street drinking ban.

Updated: 11:45 Wednesday, December 17, 2003