Five senior British police officers yesterday told the Prime Minister, Mr Tony Blair, that his suggestion of on-the-spot fines for loutish behaviour would not work, but they would be prepared to discuss fixed penalties for antisocial behaviour.
Mr Blair floated the idea without consulting police officers during a debate on ethics in Germany last week when he said he wanted on-the-spot fines for "drunken, noisy, loutish and anti-social behaviour" enforced by police who would then accompany people to cash machines to withdraw up to £100.
But after two hours of talks at a Downing Street crime "summit" with Mr Blair and the Home Secretary, Mr Jack Straw, the chairman of the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO), Sir John Evans, said the collection of on-the-spot cash fines was "not a practical idea".
He agreed, however, that senior police officers and the government were committed to working together to prevent loutish behaviour and the police were in favour of fixed penalties for anti-social behaviour similar to the fixed fines imposed for motoring offences.
A Downing Street spokesman said Mr Blair considered fixed penalties would be worth pursuing and he had told senior police officers he was prepared to give them new powers "within the bounds of reason" to tackle crime.
The Shadow Home Secretary, Ms Ann Widdecombe, said the Prime Minister's suggestion had been another case of spin. "This is a humiliating climbdown by the government and a huge embarrassment for Tony Blair, whose ridiculous idea this was in the first place," she said.