Sunderland nightlife set for boom
Sunderland's nightlife looks set to undergo the biggest boom in the North, with 10 new bars and nightclubs - worth an estimated £15m - on the agenda.
The new pubs, which should be open in April 2003, will create up to 500 new jobs in the city centre.
Half of the planned new café-bars, pubs and clubs will be in the Green Terrace area, with more planned for Holmeside and Park Lane.
Bob Fairlie who runs the Ivy pub in Sunderland said: "Youngsters tend to hop on the metro and nip over to Newcastle for a night out because there is a brilliant choice there. This might convince them to come out in Sunderland."
Sunderland's boom comes as Manchester police have accused local pubs of not catering for customers over the age of 35.
They warned that pubs with loud music, no furniture and cheap booze are turning Manchester into an "18-to-30s ghetto".
The concerns were raised last month at an alcohol working party, run by the Greater Manchester Police Authority. It met to discuss how to make the city more attractive for the over 30s.
The party was set up as part of the city's Think Safe, Drink Safe initiative, which aims to tackle alcohol-related crime and disorder in the city centre and discourage binge-drinking.
It's not the first time police have complained. Last year, Sgt Jan Brown of Greater Manchester Police said licensees could do more to encourage mature drinkers into the city centre and at the same time dispel the binge-drinking culture.
