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I hear that Barnsley is cracking down on potty mouthed locals. Sounds ambitious to me, what's the plan?

The South Yorkshire police have teamed up with the Barnsley Voice, a community organisation, and together they are tackling anti-social behavior. Starting with bad language!

Where better to start I say! Refresh my memory, where exactly is Barnsley?

Well it's a market town in south Yorkshire, about 12 miles north of Sheffield. It lies on the river Diarne.

Didn't Michael Parkinson used to live there?

He did yes, but back to the point!

So how are the police going to tackle such a big problem?

Well the plan is to approach those using bad language, ask them to refrain from doing so, and if they don't, they face an £80 spot fine.

That'd put anyone off surely!

Well that is the point. It is not only swearing that they aim to stamp out, the police will intervene where intimidation or offence is clearly taking place.

All towns should follow suit. So why the sudden plan to do this?

It is not entirely unexpected. It is part of a longer term plan which aims to clean up the town's image, tackling different issues on a monthly basis. For a town that is surrounded by ancient villages, has historic roots, and is even referred to in the Domesday book, bad language just doesn't fit in.

And this will come in to play as of June?

Yes. So people will now be asked to report any such behavior, and the police will also be on the lookout.

My only issue is that even the best of us swear now and then!

And Phil Davies from the Barnsley Voice group will be the first to back you up on that. He has admitted to swearing himself.

Right... so how can he expect others to stop? After all fair's fair.

Exactly, and that is why it is important to realise that there is a big difference between swearing when you stub your toe first thing in the morning, and directing foul language at a particular person in order to threaten them.

I see! Point taken. Well lets hope the initiative is successful. After all, washing your mouth out with soap is a bit outdated!

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