A police operation to tackle excessive drinking in Northampton town centre saw 17 people arrested on Saturday night.
It means since the start of the crackdown, which was launched at the start of the month as part of a battle with violent crime on Saturday nights, almost 60 people have now been arrested for being drunk while out in the town.
The majority of those have either been banned from the town or being ordered to attend alcohol awareness courses, while all have received “morning after” visits from the police.
The mobile custody village was once again set up in Northampton town centre for the Saturday night operation, providing an “on the ground” unit to detain drunks and people who are vulnerable.
On Saturday, one person was retained in custody at Campbell Square police station, while 16 people were released and referred to DAARS (Drug and Alcohol Referral Scheme).
They were also issued with Section 27 notices, banning them from the town.
Detective Chief Superintendent Simon Blatchly joined officers on patrol on Saturday night and made two of the arrests.
He said: “The use of mobile custody suite has proved to be a very successful initiative, demonstrating that we will deal robustly with anti-social and potentially violent behaviour caused by excessive alcohol consumption, while at the same time helping to educate people about the risks involved and the potential consequences of too much alcohol.
“We’re not here to stop people having fun – we want everyone to be able to enjoy their night out safely but also to realise that there can be consequences to getting drunk beyond a hangover.”
Two volunteers from Northamptonshire Police Authority were shown all aspects of the operation and had full access to the custody village to check that the facilities were satisfactory and the welfare needs of the detainees were met.
Anyone given a DAARS appointment must attend otherwise they will receive a summons to court.
So far, no-one has failed to attend an appointment and around a third of people have requested further support.