New powers to seize alcohol from drinkers on Oxford's streets have been used for the first time by police.

Officers in Oxford have previously had the power to confiscate alcohol from troublemakers in alcohol-free zones.

The zero tolerance' approach has now been extended across the city. Police used the new powers for the first time on four occasions on SaturdayMay6.

City councillors voted last month to extend existing alcohol-free zones to cover the entire city after scores of complaints from residents about late-night street drinkers.

Under the extended ban, those deemed to be causing a nuisance while drinking anywhere in the city could be asked by police to surrender their drink or be arrested and fined if they fail to comply.

Before now, only a handful of areas including Oxford city centre, Wellington Square and Little Clarendon Street, Blackbird Leys shops and Windrush Tower, and Manzil Way and Cowley Road in East Oxford were covered by the drinking restrictions.

Two street drinkers received a warning and had alcohol confiscated at New Road Baptist Church at 2pm, and a man and a woman in Pike Terrace in the city centre were dealt with in the same way at 11am, after members of the public said they were being a nuisance. At 10.15pm and 11.30pm in George Street, police confiscated alcohol from young drinkers disturbing the peace. None were arrested.

Chief Insp Steph Cook said: "These powers can be used to deal with the drunk and disorderly who are causing a nuisance. This is all about combating disorder it is not a draconian use of power and this weekend demonstrates just how useful these powers can be."

Tim Wiseman, a police spokesman, added that the whole city was now effectively an alcohol-free zone, where officers could tackle street drinkers "with discretion" if they were being abusive.

He said: "We are not saying you can't enjoy a drink in Oxford if you are having a glass of wine with a picnic in the park, then that's a very different matter."

Susan Brown, the city council's former executive member for community safety, said: "The police found that they could not tackle those who moved outside an alcohol-free zone to carry on drinking.

"These new powers mean they we can now deal with them."

Lesley Dewhurst, director of Oxford Nightshelter, the homeless charity, has urged police not to be heavy-handed with the new powers.

q=candrew.ffrench@nqo.com Criminals driven out' A CRACKDOWN on criminals is reaping rewards, with dozens of burglars, drug dealers and robbers being driven off the streets of Oxford.

Since the launch of Operation Backlash on April 24, 71 people have been arrested and 346 have been stop-checked.

Thirty plainclothes CID officers from burglary, robbery and autocrime teams have worked alongside regular and beat officers to put pressure on known criminals and their associates in the city.

Officers patrol a particular section of the city each day on foot, on bike and by car on the look-out for known targets and any suspicious activity.

Det Insp Mark Ponting said: "Operation Backlash is about getting in the faces of criminals and making sure that they know we are watching them." "Where we track them down we will continue to make them account for their movements and we will disrupt their activity in a bid to reduce crime in the city.

"These sort of targeted, plain-clothes operations allow us to focus on the people we know are committing crimes in the city, give us the opportunity to check them and where we find evidence of criminal activity we will arrest and charge them.

"Operation Backlash has been a fantastic success so far and will be continuing. We will be making sure the criminals in our community know that we are coming for them and that their unacceptable behaviour will be stopped."