Police battling to stop Eastern Europeans binge drinking in the street have put up posters in POLISH warning them that alcohol is banned.
Officers in Worcester had the message translated to represent the “multi-cultural” nature of the city following complaints migrants were getting drunk in public.
The signs – which are written in English and Polish – warn drinkers that cracking open booze in alcohol-free zones can result in an on-the-spot £60 fine.
West Mercia Police have found the city is home to a growing number of people from Eastern European countries who are drinking cans and bottles of alcohol in public.
Pc Alex Denny, who started putting up 30 of the plastic weather-proof signs yesterday, said they often encountered Polish drinkers.
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He added: “There is a reasonable proportion of people we encounter in this locality who are Polish but all the signage we have is in English and they may not be aware they are drinking in an alcohol-free zone.
“The idea of this is to raise awareness to prevent people violating the conditions.
“Worcester is a multi-cultural city and there are people of a variety of nationalities living in the Lowesmoor area, which is a positive reflection on the city.
“A number of the drinkers we encounter are English males but there are also Polish males.
“What we are trying to do is make the legislation more easily understandable to the people we encounter.
“If we can educate people rather than reprimand them then that is something we would rather do.”
The black and yellow signs have been put up in areas across Worcester including Sansome Place, Tallow Hill and Lowesmoor.
They have been placed in areas which have drawn complaints from residents and businesses so foreign drinkers can’t plead for leniency and claim they couldn’t read English warnings.
West Mercia Police say the signs are part of Operation Spartacus which has slashed alcohol-related anti-social behaviour since it was launched last October.
Anyone caught drinking in the no-alcohol zones can face an on-the-spot #60 fine and have their booze seized.
They can also be served with a dispersal order, arrested or even given a criminal anti-social behaviour order.
* In 2012 officers in Armley, West Yorkshire, had no alcohol signs translated from English to six different languages – Slovak, Czech, Polish, Russian, Latvian and Lithuanian.
I think this is a waste of money, Worcester is in England not New Poland, let them get arrested it’ll teach them to learn English, just like native English speakers are expected to learn other languages when they visit foreign countries. Try visiting Paris without an ounce of French, you will be mocked till kingdom come.