TOWNSFOLK have stepped back from demanding a ban on drinking on the streets of Nailsworth.
Around two dozen members of the community were at a public meeting in the Town Hall on Monday which discussed alcohol-related problems and anti-social behaviour.
Shopkeeper Gordon Pearce complained that groups of drinkers in the Mortimer Gardens were affecting footfall in the town.
He said: "People using the gardens have had to deal with obscene language and gestures and general rowdiness."
Phil Sullivan, Stroud District Council's head of community safety, is a former police superintendent and advised that the installation of CCTV was a better alternative than an outright drinking ban.
Police figures showed there have been more than twice as many incidents related to street drinking in Nailsworth this year, a total of 35 compared with 15.
But an officer from Glouc-estershire police warned: "We need to balance whether this is a genuine problem or one related to one or two people."
Nailsworth mayor Coun Steve Robinson chaired the session and said later that after hearing the pros and cons it seemed people were no longer keen on the Designated Public Places Order ban on drinking.