A MAN has been told he must turn his life around after breaching a court order - for the ninth time.

David Binks, 50, of no fixed address, is a prolific street drinker in Southend and has been handed an additional community order after he admitted breaching the initial court order and behaving threateningly and abusively.

Binks was originally handed a criminal behaviour order (CBO) in August 2016 which banned him from drinking in public.

The order was amended in February of this year to ban him from a number of locations across the borough, including a stretch of London Road, Hamlet Court Road and Station Road, in Westcliff.

He was also banned from sitting outside 94 to 98 Southchurch Avenue where he was a former resident.

However, on September 20, he was spotted by Southend’s CCTV team banging on the door before sitting outside.

Police were called and he was arrested for breaching his CBO at which point he began swearing and shouting in a manner which caused members of the public to be distressed.

Binks, who has been described by police as a “prolific and aggressive street drinker”, has already served eight weeks in prison for a previous breach of the his order this year.

But on Friday, Southend magistrates heard this latest breach was simply a “misunderstanding” on Binks’ part.

Bethany Brown, mitigating, told the court he had been living at that address prior to serving his time in prison and had left some of his belongings there.

Miss Brown said: “He attended the address to collect his things. He only breached the order because he then sat outside and didn’t know whether anyone was inside.”

Magistrates handed him a 12-month community order with a requirement to complete 30 days of rehabilitation.

The sentence comes after Southend Council announced plans to adopt a stricter approach to street drinkers and homeless people who are refusing help in a bid to make the town more attractive.

The authority is due to hold a summit today with all interested bodies, including Southend BID and Essex Police, to agree a common approach to crime and rough sleeping in the high street.

The town centre continues to be a cause for concern in the community.

Last week, a man was arrested after a fight broke out in the High Street at lunchtime.

He was charged with assault by beating and assaulting a police officer and was due in court on Friday.

The council has stated CBOs may be used more frequently as part of the new approach to crack down on the antisocial behaviour.

A hearing will be held at Southend Magistrates next month to determine whether David Binks should be banned from High Street as well as the existing locations.