Pubs to blame for 'thuggery'
Leading police officers are calling for a curb on numbers of pubs and a ban on drinks promotions to stem the rise of drink-related violence.
The calls follow leaked figures in national newspapers this week, which claim the national crime figures set to be released at the end of the month will show a dramatic increase in drunken assaults.
The figures are rumoured to reveal that assaults and woundings in some areas of the country have increased by as much as 70 per cent.
The police are laying the blame for the increases at the feet of the pub trade. They say a surge in binge-drinking, encouraged by a growth in new bars and pubs, is causing the problems.
Geoff Anderson, acting head of CID at Avon & Somerset, said: "Because drinking is crammed into short periods of time such as happy hours, violence escalates when drinkers are thrown out on to the streets."
A spokesman for Lancashire police said there has been a "massive increase in low-level thuggery and minor scuffles" since more late-night opening was allowed.
The chief constable of Nottinghamshire, Stephen Green, has asked magistrates to veto any new applications for late licences because of growing town centre violence.
Mark Hastings, spokesman for the British Beer & Pub Association, said: "The Home Office has said the rise in figures was due to the way we now record these sort of crimes.
"Therefore, the conclusions reached by these people do not seem justified in the slightest."
Steve Thomas, chief executive of late-night operator Luminar, said a great deal of trouble after hours and in the streets is attributable to off-sales, with underage drinkers finding it easier to buy alcohol in shops than in bars.
"Controls on promotions would help responsible operators compete with the rogues," he said. "However, it wouldn't do anything to tackle the real problem, which is that customers are drunk when they arrive on our doorstep because they've been drinking at home or in the street."
An Association of Chief Police Officers spokesman said: "Clearly, some individual forces have concerns about the impact of drinks promotions, but we won't be forming a view on whether new legislation is needed until we see the figures."
Wetherspoon axes promos
Wetherspoon has agreed to drop drinks promotions in its seven Glasgow pubs. The company has signed up to a policy introduced by the City's licensing board which bans discounting and promotional advertising.
David Issac, director of legal services at Wetherspoon, said: "We'll have to see how the board's policy works in practice but we have no policy or promotions which would be deemed to encourage binge-drinking and don't reckon it will cause us too many problems."
