THE police's sudden wobble over licensing reform is most odd.

At the Association of Chief Police Officers' annual conference, president Chris Fox warned that the demise of last orders could lead to more alcohol-fuelled violence.

Yet the act which will introduce 24-hour licensing next summer was brought in with the support of police, who said it would help reduce trouble.

So it will. For years, pub-goers have felt compelled to speed up their consumption as the 11pm deadline approached.

Then, after downing several quick drinks, everyone was thrown out at the same time. Staggered closing times will end this recipe for street brawling.

Our First World War licensing laws have kept Britain in a timewarp. Foreign tourists are baffled by the early end to their evening out. Well-travelled Britons, too, are increasingly frustrated by being able to drink into the night on Continental holidays, but not at home.

In our well-argued debate on the page opposite, both Coun Holvey and John Grogan agree that there should not be an opening hour free-for-all.

York must use its new powers carefully to judge which pubs can serve late. We can be confident it will. York's existing licensing policy, involving police, the council, landlords and door staff, has already been acclaimed as a model of how to regulate a city's nightlife.

The connection between deregulated opening hours and binge drinking is a tenuous one. People can only drink as much as they can afford and their system will take. That is true whether pubs close at 11pm or 2am.

A more effective way to reduce binge drinking is to curb happy hours and other cheap drinks promotions. Home Secretary David Blunkett said yesterday he is minded to do just that.

Updated: 11:25 Wednesday, May 12, 2004