Visible action in city centre as council and partners join two-day crackdown
Peterborough City Council has deployed what it calls Operation Horizon — a two-day, highly visible effort in the city centre intended to tackle issues residents have complained about, including graffiti, litter, chewing gum and street drinking.
The initiative saw councillors and council staff wearing bright green high-visibility vests working alongside partner organisations such as Peterborough Positive and Cambridgeshire Police. Actions recorded for the operation include jet-washing of streets, litter-picking in known hot spots such as the Embankment, visits to businesses to check compliance with licensing and food safety rules, and engagement with people sleeping rough.
What happened during the two-day event
| Day | Main activity |
|---|---|
| Wednesday | Jet-washing, fines and offers of support to street drinkers, litter-picking |
| Thursday | Continued street cleansing, business visits and rough sleeper outreach |
Street drinkers were both fined and offered support, the council said, while outreach workers continued to provide a route away from sleeping rough for people who accepted assistance.
Longer-term plan: a City Impact Team
Officials described the two-day action as the opening phase of a broader approach. The council intends to form a City Impact Team, led by the authority and drawing in businesses and partner organisations to deliver sustained change rather than a one-off tidy-up.
The stated aim is to restore confidence in the city centre — which the council says has attractions such as the Norman cathedral, museum, theatres and the Lido — by addressing issues that residents say dissuade them from visiting.
“Operation Horizon was orchestrated to show that we are entering a new age of our approach in tackling city centre issues... Our residents have – quite rightly – said that it is deterring them from using our city centre and so we are now waging war on these issues.”
The quotation was attributed to the council leader, setting a firm tone for the operation, and indicating both enforcement and partnered support will be part of the approach.
Actions and local priorities
The operation covered a mix of enforcement and environmental tasks. Key recorded actions included:
- Jet-washing streets to remove graffiti, chewing gum and accumulated dirt;
- Fining street drinkers while offering them support services;
- Litter-picking in identified hotspots such as the Embankment;
- Business visits to check licensing and food safety compliance;
- Continued rough sleeper outreach to offer pathways off the streets.
For many residents the Embankment has been an area of particular concern, and the operation's focus on visible cleansing and litter removal is aimed at making that stretch more welcoming. The council has not provided a timetable for the City Impact Team's full programme of work beyond confirming the initial two days of activity and the formation of the team.
What this means for Peterborough
The campaign signals the council adopting a more assertive public-facing stance on anti-social behaviour and street cleanliness. For businesses and visitors the immediate effect should be cleaner public spaces and increased visible enforcement; for people experiencing homelessness or substance dependence it combines enforcement with offers of support and outreach, which the council says will continue alongside policing activity.
How residents and local organisations respond to the City Impact Team model will be important. The success of the approach will depend on sustained partnership working, resources for outreach and cleansing, and clear measures of progress that residents can judge over time.
Further details on the City Impact Team's membership, funding and measurable targets have yet to be published by the council.
