Two English seaside towns have imposed a three-year ban on public alcohol consumption after a wave of anti-social behavior, beach fights, arrests, and complaints from local businesses.

The order will take effect on Wednesday in Margate and Ramsgate, on the Kent coast, banning public drinking in key town-centre areas year-round. Under the new rules, police will have the authority to seize alcohol from anyone on the street. Those who refuse could face a £1,000 ($1,300) fine.

While public drinking is entirely legal across most of England and Wales, local councils are increasingly using targeted Public Spaces Protection Orders (PSPOs) to restrict alcohol consumption in areas struggling with anti-social behavior.

In Margate’s town center, local authorities have reported that rowdy, alcohol-fueled chaos now accounts for some 73% of all law enforcement incidents, leaving streets plagued by public urination, defecation, and street fights.

The public drinking ban follows a series of incidents on the coast, with Kent Police reporting “large numbers” of out-of-towners swarming Margate and nearby Broadstairs, triggering mass brawls on the sand and assaults at Margate Railway Station.

According to police arrest logs, the offenders are overwhelmingly teenagers and young adults aged 16 to 18, who use the rail network to flood the coast unchecked from London and interior Kent during heatwaves and school holidays. Across Kent, police logged over 10,200 anti-social behavior reports last summer alone.

The disorder has triggered numerous complaints from local businesses, who claim that the coastal strips have devolved into lawless zones. Store managers have described mobs of teenagers swarming retail shops to steal stock, while beachfront restaurants have been forced to shut their doors early on prime summer days to protect their employees from volatile street fights. Some businesses say that they plan to leave the area entirely.

While some have applauded the three-year ban as a necessary measure, the move has also triggered fierce backlash online, with skeptics arguing that more policing is required instead, and that new legal restrictions won’t deter violent 50-person youth mobs who are already drinking illegally.

Others have slammed the move as a case of “authoritarianism,” arguing that the public drinking ban disproportionately penalizes law-abiding residents rather than the violent youths responsible for the chaos.