A POLICE crackdown on revellers who urinate in a York street has led to 33 people being charged.

And following a change in local by-laws they could all face hefty fines.

They will appear before city magistrates on January 27 following a three-day police operation in Micklegate in November which involved officers in plain clothes as well as uniformed patrols.

Insp Fred Martindale, of York police, said the operation, codenamed Signal 3, had been the third of its kind since police first began to crack down in July 1996.

But while those arrested then had faced a maximum fine of £2, those caught in the latest operation could be fined up to £500 following a change in York by-laws approved by the Home Office.

Insp Martindale said: "Urinating in a shop doorway or house doorway is disgusting behaviour. It is not acceptable. Apart from that, if it is allowed to continue it becomes a situation of anything goes. It can lead to disorder and ultimately violence. We are maintaining this action on a regular basis. So far it has been mainly Micklegate, but we do accept this problem is not just Micklegate and we are taking positive action to prevent it there and elsewhere."

l Thirty-seven cyclists will appear before city magistrates on January 27 charged with cycling without lights in the dark, or cycling on pavements. They were stopped during a police operation in November in which more than 300 people were cautioned.

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