A street drinker who breached an order in Llanelli may be able to appeal because it wasn't introduced correctly.
The designated public spaces order to clamp down on street drinking was approved by Carmarthenshire Council's executive board, and then full council, at the end of 2012.
Such orders give police and council officers additional powers to target street drinkers and alcohol-related crime and anti-social behaviour.
The order was renamed in 2017 following a change in legislation, but it recently emerged that the original order had not been "sealed".
The finding came about as council officers prepared to extend the order.
Executive board members were informed earlier this month that the original order could not be located and that there was no record of the order being sealed.
The report before them said: "This administrative error has meant that there is no formal order in place currently and it is therefore no longer being enforced by the police."
The Local Democracy Reporter Service asked the council and Dyfed-Powys Police if people who had been fined or arrested under the previous order could appeal, given the administrative error.
Responding on behalf of the two organisations, a Dyfed-Powys Police spokeswoman said: “Our understanding is that anyone convicted for breaching the order may be able to appeal.
"To our knowledge this applies to one person, convicted in 2013.”
She said a breach of the order only occurred if someone failed to comply with requests made by the police, and that this had only happened once.
She added: “The additional powers given by the order have been used extensively by the police in order to prevent or reduce the risk of anti-social drinking and alcohol-related crime, nuisance and disorder.
"This enforcement has enabled the police to request individuals to stop drinking and to seize alcohol from them."
The council's executive board has agreed to introduce a new public spaces protection order covering a designated area of Llanelli, which includes the Elli, Tyisha and Glanymor wards.
Full council will not be required to approve the order, which will mean people being issued with a fixed penalty notice of up to £100, or being arrested, if they fail to stop drinking in the town centre or hand over alcohol when asked to by police.
Speaking at the executive board meeting, Cllr Cefin Campbell said: "Basically, it gives the police freedom to ask people not to drink on the streets, and issue them with a fixed penalty notice if they don't comply."
