The report that Brighton and Hove City Council is behind schedule with plans to extend its street drinking ban (The Argus, January 25) is depressing and predictable.

Since the introduction of the ban in St James's Street, we have seen an influx of street drinkers and drug addicts to Norfolk Square.

The council knows this, not least because I, other local residents and the police, have told it.

It also knows from research that the experiment in St James's Street has been a success and is widely supported by residents and traders.

There is absolutely no reason why the street drinking ban cannot be extended and many other councils have introduced similar schemes.

After reading the article, I walked past Norfolk Square and saw one street drinker urinating down the steps in full view of people at the bus stop.

It seems this casual contempt for the quality of life of local people is shared by the council.

Perhaps if its community safety team had to put up with drunkenness, drug taking, drug dealing and public defecation outside their homes, as we do, they might have done what they promised when they promised.

As the local elections approach, I hope people in the Norfolk Square area will test which candidates really have their interests at heart in solving this problem.

-Carol Grant, Borough Street, Brighton