£70 on the spot, £1,000 in court: Nottingham's face covering rule
From 15 September, anyone in Nottingham city centre who is asked to take off a balaclava or similar face covering and refuses can be handed a £70 fine on the spot. If the case goes further and ends in prosecution, the maximum penalty is £1,000. The powers were confirmed by the Labour-run city council, which said it had listened to residents who feel intimidated in the city centre.
The rule does not ban balaclavas outright. What it does is give police officers and council community protection officers the power to order a covering removed where they have reason to believe someone is hiding their identity to commit a crime or to intimidate other people. It applies to non-religious coverings, and it is the refusal to comply, rather than the covering itself, that triggers the penalty.
The money side is worth being clear about. The on the spot ticket is £70. The £1,000 figure in the headlines is the maximum a court can impose if the matter is prosecuted, not a standard charge. For most households a £70 penalty for a teenager who argues with an officer on a Saturday afternoon is the more realistic risk.
Police and council officials said they logged more than 180 anti social behaviour and crime incidents in the city centre in the 12 months to June involving youths and groups covering their faces. Those included last November's confrontation between two groups of youths carrying machetes in front of families at the Winter Wonderland Christmas market, along with reports of shop workers being intimidated and of coverings used during break ins.
Councillor Neghat Khan, the council leader, said residents across Nottingham had told her they feel intimidated by people wearing balaclavas, skeleton masks or other coverings without a legitimate reason. She said people should be able to live, work and spend time in the city without feeling frightened, and described the move as decisive action that makes Nottingham one of the first cities in the country to bring in a restriction of this kind.
Khan also said the measure is not about telling people what they can wear or targeting anyone with a genuine reason to cover their face. According to the council, exemptions apply for religious reasons, for health conditions, and for legitimate cultural events. Anyone in those categories should know where they stand before being stopped.
This sits on top of a Public Spaces Protection Order the council issued earlier in the summer, aimed at aggressive charity collectors, noisy buskers, public urination and unauthorised magazine sellers. Under the Crime and Policing Act 2026, a police inspector or above can already designate a mask free zone for up to 24 hours, and councils can use a PSPO to make that kind of restriction last far longer. Wolverhampton and the London borough of Hammersmith and Fulham have announced similar measures.
For ordinary people this is another rule that arrives with a fine attached and very little public notice. The council says officers will use judgement, but judgement is exactly what leaves an honest person in a hood on a cold day arguing their case in the street. If you live in or visit Nottingham, the practical advice is simple. Know the date, know that £70 is the real number most people would face, and know that health, religious and cultural exemptions exist so you can say so on the spot.
