The Red Lion pub in Thetford currently uses the town's market place as an overspill for its customers and has planter boxes to form a make-shift cordon around the space.

But the area is also under a strict ban on drinking alcohol, as part of a Public Space Protection Order (PSPO) imposed by Breckland Council.

It has left locals wondering whether they are at risk of being fined if drinking at the pub or questioning how the police can enforce the measure when pub goers are spilling out into the Market Place.

The Red Lion in Thetford outside seating area(Image: Sonya Duncan)

One concerned Thetford resident, Josh, who did not wish to use his surname, said: "It is like an oasis in the middle of the alcohol ban, or perhaps Switzerland in the Second World War.

"It risks undermining the police being able to enforce the law and is confusing for people coming into the town."

The PSPO has been in place for several years and covers........

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