HUMAN rights group Liberty hit out yesterday at a local authority’s “staggering misuse” of legislation to try to outlaw swearing in public.

Last summer, Salford City Council introduced a controversial public spaces protection order (PSPO) in parts of the affluent Quays docklands development in an attempt to curb anti-social behaviour.

But Liberty said that enforcement of the order could have a “chilling effect” on freedom of expression because, it claims, the order fails to define clearly one of the prohibited activities — “using foul and abusive language.”

Liberty legal officer Rosie Brighouse said: “This is a staggering example of the misuse of a public spaces protection order, so vaguely worded it’s impossible for anybody to know whether they’re in danger of breaking the law.

“The right to say what we want should not be restricted at the whim of council officials, able to issue fixed-penalty notices on the basis of a poorly defined legal order. Without the freedom to offend, real freedom of expression cannot exist.”

Liberty said it had particular concerns about the effect on artists appearing at Salford’s Lowry theatre.

Comic and activist Mark Thomas, who is scheduled to perform at the venue, is understood to have prepared a list of words which he may wish to use and which he intends to send to the council to seek specific guidance on whether or not they will breach the PSPO when he performs next Thursday.

Salford Council’s move to outlaw public swearing is ironic, given that two of the city’s most famous sons, punk poet John Cooper Clarke and the Fall’s lead vocalist Mark E Smith, are both well known for their non-conformism and frequent use of Anglo-Saxon vocabulary.

A council spokesman said: “We will discuss Liberty’s concerns privately with them and make sure that nothing interferes with Mr Thomas’s artistic performance.

“Liberty are fully aware that breach of a PSPO is only an offence if a person does a prohibited act without a reasonable excuse. That allows all the circumstances to be taken into account.

“I appreciate Liberty want publicity for their campaign against these orders, but Salford City Council is not going to apologise for using national legislation to help Salford residents when their lives are being made a misery by anti-social behaviour.”