Councillors are being urged to throw out plans to introduce a street drinking bylaw.

Eastbourne Council was considering the idea to reduce under-age drinking in the town centre and cut alcohol-related violence and public drunkenness.

Anyone found drinking alcohol in parks, shopping centres or the seafront would be told to stop by police and face prosecution if they refused.

But councillors now look unlikely to follow the lead of Hastings, where a similar bylaw came into force in August.

A report by Eastbourne development officers, to be discussed at a Cabinet meeting next week, says the ban would be difficult to enforce.

It says: "Enforcing bylaws can be problematic, especially in an area where the townscape is being designed on a street cafe theme.

"A single intervention such as a bylaw will only move the problem from one area of the town to another.

"It would also be difficult to enforce a bylaw where on one side of the street a person could consume alcohol within the grounds of a licensed premises but on the other it would be banned."

The Town Centre Task Group asked police to assess how useful they thought the ban would be.

The general conclusion was that it would be ineffective.

They also looked at how successfully the ban had been implemented in three other tourist resorts.

Councillors are expected to recommend that the task group work with other community groups to find alternative ways of tackling the problem.

But Colin Young, manager of the Terminus Hotel in Terminus Road, Eastbourne, believes the bylaw should be introduced.

He said: "I think the ban should go through. We have to put up with cans and bottles strewn around the town centre, especially after the weekend.

"It would give the police more power to stop people drinking in the street, especially when they cause noise and disturbance in the early hours."