Street drinkers as young as 35 are dying from extra-strong booze so Ipswich is hoping retailers will observe a voluntary ban

From afar it is a pretty wooded area, dappled in the autumn sunshine, which breaks up the urban concrete landscape next to Ipswich’s renowned New Wolsey theatre.

But closer inspection reveals this to be the regular haunt of the town’s notorious community of hardened street drinkers.

Large, empty plastic bottles of Frosty Jack’s cider – emblazoned with “50% free!” – and abandoned cans of 9% Skol Super lager are strewn by the dozen in the soggy bushes along with cigarette stubs, tobacco pouches and empty condom packets.

But on some days the volume and content of rubbish is even worse. Luke Collins, who works for Ipswich borough council’s litter-clearance squad, said the regular cleanups here can take two or three men at least 45 minutes: “It’s not pleasant. Last time we removed 100 or so used needles and there’s always human excrement too.

“Lots of families come through this car park and as well as the rubbish left by the drinkers we worry about their violent behaviour and foul language.”

Collins has welcomed the town’s new campaign to stop the sale of “super-strength” drinks in a co-ordinated local approach that is believed to be the first of its kind in Britain.

In a ground-breaking move, off-licence owners and other retailers in Ipswich are being asked to remove strong beers and ciders from their shelves in an effort to tackle alcohol abuse and stamp out anti-social behaviour. Four street drinkers have been murdered in the past three years and police say the scheme would not only help those who depend on alcohol but also the wider community and those in charge of clean-up operations.

Big chains including Tesco, the East of England Co-op and McColls newsagents have signed up along with smaller independent retailers to voluntarily remove products such as White Ace, Carbon White and White Star ciders, which have a 7.5% alcohol content and sell for as little as 59p for a 500ml can.

The Reducing the Strength campaign, backed by Suffolk police, NHS Suffolk, Ipswich borough council and Suffolk county council, is targeted at beers and ciders with an alcohol volume of 6.5% and over, which are often sold cheaply. There are 130 off-licences in Ipswich; 53 will be super-strength free following the launch and more are likely to follow.

PC John Alcock, the town’s street-drinking liaison officer, said: “A single can [of super-strength alcohol] contains more than the recommended daily allowance for a male. The street drinkers are drinking copious amounts of this. Some are drinking 10 to 12 cans a day.

“Cheap super-strength alcohol is also attractive to underage drinkers as the cost means it is affordable and achieves the desired effect without them knowing, or even caring, how strong the cider or lager is.”

The long-term health risks – brain damage (Korsakoff’s syndrome), liver damage and death – have been highlighted by the homelessness charity Thames Reach in a long-running campaign. The charity, which first called for such a ban seven years ago, has found people as young as 35 dying from problems related to drinking super-strength lagers.

Collins added: “My only concern is whether relying on a voluntary approach from retailers is really going to be effective. There are plenty of local off-licences which rely on the street drinkers for business. And I know of one that would not hesitate to sell alcohol to a 10-year-old.”

His colleague Paula Edwards, standing near the town’s Little Waitrose – which does not stock any of the offending brands – said: “Most of them are not homeless people. They are people out of work who drink all day, even though there is an exclusion zone, and the worst behaviour tends to be at night.

“As well as the local drinkers, Ipswich attracts lots of young people for stag nights etc, so there is plenty of binge drinking with cheap booze. It’s a great shame – Ipswich is a great town and this gives it a very negative image.”

The campaign is also supported by the local newspaper, the Ipswich Star. From her stall by the busy market square, Ivy Brame, a 78-year-old newspaper seller, said she had been attacked by a street drinker a year ago, when he tried to punch her in the face. “I wouldn’t let him have a free paper and that’s the thanks I got,” she said. “I support this campaign. It really is about time something was done.”

Speaking for the campaign partners, Inspector Andrew Mason, of Ipswich police, said: “This campaign aims to take the problem away at the source.

“We are the first county in the country to launch a campaign of this kind, and we hope that with support from our off-licences, we can roll this out across Suffolk, and eventually offer the campaign as a model for public services across the UK.”

But in a McColls newsagent at the town’s Tower Ramparts bus station, which had advertising hoardings outside trumpeting cut-price beers and wines in its “discount depot”, super-strength products were still for sale.

Despite the new campaign, it was stocking litre bottles of Amber Jack, described as a “crisp premium cider”, with 7.5% alcohol, for just £1.69. Sean Adams, the supervisor, said he had not been told by head office not to stock it.