Police have handed out hundreds of on-the-spot fines for drunken and disorderly behaviour on the streets of Kingston but none of the offenders will have been given a criminal record.

The fixed penalty notices were given to people for offences such as being drunk, swearing, urinating in public and using abusive and using threatening language or behaviour.

Last year Kingston police officers handed out 414 PNDs to offenders.

The force said it was unable to say exactly where it had handed out the fines in the borough.

Since 2001, officers have been able to hand out fines to anyone over 16 years old for antisocial behaviour, swearing, abusive or threatening language, urinating in public, blocking a road and inciting public disorder.

They can be issued for destroying or damaging property up to the value of £500, theft from shops worth under £200, sale of alcohol to a person under 18 years old, breach of a fireworks curfew or wasting police time.

Offenders pay either £40 or £80, depending on the seriousness of their behaviour.

Receiving a penalty notice does not count as a conviction and does not leave an offender with a criminal record.

After signing the ticket and admitting their guilt, the recipient has 21 days to phone the police and pay or to request a court hearing.

If they don’t pay up the penalty is reissued at one and a half times the original amount.

Failure to pay can end in jail.

Earlier this month the Surrey Comet reported that the number of violent crimes, which includes higher categories of threatening behaviour, in the town centre had fallen for a third year in a row - dropping from 3,003 in 2006/07 to 2,575 in 2007/8.

Police in Kingston 392 PNDs in 2005, 434 in 2006, 414 in 2007 and 174 between January and June this year.

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