EXTRA licensing charges for the biggest York bars and pubs could shield council tax payers from the higher cost of policing 24-hour drinking, says a Liberal Democrat city leader.

Senior police officers and elected representatives fear controversial Government plans for more relaxed licensing hours could leave the city with a financial hangover.

A row has broken out both locally and across England and Wales over who will meet the social cost for providing emergency services at drinking hotspots and cleaning up the streets. Andrew Waller, City of York Council's deputy leader, welcomed new rules that will grant local authorities bigger fees from bars with the highest turnover. But, he said, the Government had "sidestepped" the true cost of extra drinking hours and left the licensing system in "chaos". He said: "Clearly the Government has been caught out. They were saying one thing to young drinkers and promising the ending of drinking limits, but were being criticised for potentially creating anarchy.

"Council tax payers were also in danger of being landed with a bill to pay for the privilege of the relaxed regime as councils were landed with additional costs.

"The new changes in fees do go some way to addressing the deficit. But I am concerned about the smaller traditional pubs, in and around York centre, which give the city its character, because they will be paying more."

Large city centre pubs could soon pay £1,905 for a flexible licence and a £1,050 annual fee, compared with a total of £170 for a small pub licence, according to the proposals.

Other Government plans, aimed at controlling binge drinking and violence, include giving rowdy pubs eight weeks to clean up their act before forcing them to pay NHS and police costs. On-the-spot fines will also be introduced for bar staff who serve drunken people and a 48-hour alcohol sale ban could be imposed on premises that persistently serve under-age drinkers.

Updated: 09:52 Monday, January 24, 2005