All five major towns in the South Hams have alcohol bans in place to try to cut anti-social behaviour.

Figures released by a campaign group had no Public Space Protection Orders (PSPOs) listed for the South Hams, but the district council has stressed that it actually has five in place, aimed at curbing nuisance behaviour.

Last month the Manifesto Club published a nationwide list of PSPOs, including those where people can be handed on-the-spot fines for feeding seagulls on Exmouth seafront, shouting in Teignmouth and handing out leaflets in Barnstaple.

Across the country, councils use the orders to crack down on activities such as urinating, drinking and swearing in public. Torbay has a PSPO to restrict rogue fishermen from landing large quantities of mackerel and leaving rubbish at Hopes Nose and Berry Head.

East Devon District Council bans feeding gulls on the beaches at Exmouth, Budleigh Salterton, Sidmouth, Beer and Seaton and has fined at least one person for doing so.

The Manifesto Club says it challenges what it says is the ‘hyper-regulation’ of public spaces through PSPOs, which first appeared in the 2014 Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act.

They can be issued if a council official believes activities carried on in a public place ‘have had a detrimental effect on the quality of life of those in the locality’.

The Manifesto Club had no PSPOs listed for the South Hams, but a spokesman for the council said five are in place, all of them aimed at nuisance drinkers.

A spokesman for the council explained: “A PSPO is designed to stop individuals or groups committing anti-social behaviour in a public space which is having or is likely to have a detrimental effect on the quality of life of those in the area.

“The behaviour must be persistent or continuing in nature and must be unreasonable.

“A PSPO is not a ban on drinking alcohol and the powers do not intend to disrupt peaceful activities such as families having a picnic in a park with a glass of wine. However, it is an offence to fail to comply with a request to cease drinking or surrender alcohol in a designated area.”

The PSPOs cover Ivybridge (Ivybridge Central, Erme Playing Fields, Subway, Victoria Park, Woodlands Park and Filham Park); Kingsbridge (Kingsbridge Centre and Duncombe Park); Totnes (Steamer Quay, Pathfields and Weston Lane, Vire Island, Totnes Centre, Leechwell Gardens, Heath Nursery Green Space, The Grove Green Space and Leatside); Dartmouth (Dartmouth Centre, Victoria Road Park, Collingwood Road Park and Britannia Avenue park) and Salcombe (Salcombe Centre, Cemetery, The Berry, Salcombe North, Park and Ride and Cemetery).

The figures from the Manifesto Club also said one PSPO was in place in West Devon – an alcohol order in Tavistock – but there are currently two. The other is an order on the control of dogs and dog fouling which covers almost all of the council area. It also bars dogs from places such as children’s play areas and sports pitches.

PSPOs can be enforced by police or council officers. Violation is a criminal offence, punishable by an on-the-spot fine of £100, and if prosecuted in a magistrates’ court with a fine of up to £1,000.