Drinking curbs should be introduced to stop street drinkers holding shops to ransom and wreaking havoc, said a resident at area committee two last night.

Emma Best, 22, of the Conservatives’ Church End Action Group, claimed that a group of drinkers ranging from the age of 20 to 50 have destroyed cars and abused residents in a spate of incidents in the Church Fields area.

Area committee two covers the Bridge, Church End, Monkhams and Roding wards of Redbridge.

The councillors were not in agreement on whether the enforcement of a no-drinking zone would be practical or effective.