Internet cafe bans baseball caps

Easyinternetcafe said the ban was introduced after a spate of thefts

Baseball caps have been banned from a chain of internet cafes in two Scottish cities, it has emerged.

Easyinternetcafes - owned by Stelios Haji-Ioannou, the founder of low cost airline Easyjet - claims the headgear is linked with "deviant" behaviour.

The ban on wearing caps is to be piloted at the chain's branches in Edinburgh and Glasgow.

If the trial is successful, it will be introduced in all 41 Easyinternetcafes across the UK.

The chain's management claimed people in baseball caps made other customers feel uncomfortable and that wearers were difficult to identify on CCTV.

James Rothnie, the firm's director of corporate affairs, said the ban had been introduced after a spate of thefts.

'Anti-social'

He told The Sunday Times: "We want to make sure that our cafes are places where customers can relax and feel secure.

"Since deviant behaviour can be associated with the wearing of baseball caps we are politely asking people who enter our premises not to wear caps.

"This policy is designed to combat anti-social behaviour such as theft."

The Bluewater hoodie ban sparked a national debate

This week Paisley became the first town centre in Britain to ban youths wearing hooded tops from all of its major stores.

Earlier this year, Prime Minister Tony Blair backed a ban on hoodies at the Bluewater shopping centre in Kent.

A Bluewater spokeswoman said on Sunday that the move had proved to be a "successful policy".

"I think what we have seen is groups of youths do not hang around the centre as they may have done before.

"Basically it gives out the signal to the vast majority of shoppers that it is a good place to come and shop and have a good time.

"It was good for Bluewater but I do not think the centre would offer advice to any other business as to how to run their services."