First proof Act is hitting crime

The pub trade is backing up claims that the new Licensing Act is having a sweeping effect on reducing violent and alcohol-related crime.

Serious violent crime dropped by more than a fifth (21 per cent) over the Christmas period, the Home Office revealed earlier this week. Overall violent crime fell 11 per cent while the number of woundings fell by 14 per cent during a six-week police campaign which began two weeks before the launch of the new licensing laws on November 24.

The figures, which licensing minister James Purnell said showed many of the predictions about the new laws "hadn't been borne out", fly in the face of concerns the new laws would bring drink-fuelled Armageddon to Britain's streets. Half of all violent crime is believed to be linked to alcohol.

Publicans have also reported the positive effects of the new regime. James Cracknell, licensee at the Coach and Horses in Clapham, South London, said: "The Act definitely seems to be working for us. We do not have the mad dash for the bar at closing time. People tend to swan out of the pub in their own time and we often find we are empty by 11.30pm anyway."

The Publican was the first to claim the new Act was helping reduce disorder last year, when Essex Police said there had been a 30 to 40 per cent drop in crime connected to alcohol over the first weekend of the new regime.

Last month, the British Beer & Pub Association (BBPA) also highlighted the situation, claiming many local police forces had reported the positive effect of the new laws.

Mark Hastings, director of communications at the BBPA, said: "The projections of government and the industry have proved far closer to the truth than the prophesies of the peddlers of doom. Clearly the combination of flexible opening hours and law enforcement is having a positive impact."

Licensees' leader Tony Payne, chief executive of the Federation of Licensed Victuallers' Associations, hailed the figures as "excellent news".

"I think it's one in the eye for the Daily Mail and all the naysayers," he said. "The message I got over the Christmas period was that it had been quieter."

The Conservative Party has put the drop in violence down to the £2.5m invested in the police campaign by the government.

But Downing Street said the police operation was designed to show police how the new powers could be applied and to embed good practice. The Prime Minister's official spokesman said Tony Blair was encouraged by the figures so far.