HIGH-PROFILE policing is being employed once more to keep the troublemakers at bay on John Smith's Cup day at York Racecourse.

Pubs in North and East Yorkshire are clamping down on coachloads of boozy racegoers - employing an "if they don't stop, they can't cause trouble"policy.

A ban on all-male bus parties will be employed once again by pubs in Pocklington, Stamford Bridge, Market Weighton and Holme-on-Spalding Moor this Saturday, to coincide with the John Smith's Cup, formerly the Magnet Cup.

Extra officers will also be drafted in to police the area and ensure the rules, agreed by members of the region's Pubwatch schemes, are imposed.

The event was once notorious for attracting trouble as drink-related arrests soar amid an influx of out-of-town visitors - but in recent years trouble has been rare.

Following several incidents in previous years when drunken rowdies went on the rampage in York, coaches were permanently banned from the city centre and pubs had to close before the last race. This often led to coach parties turning to nearby towns as their search for alcohol moved further afield.

Although the city centre pubs are now open, the coach ban still applies and the tradition of dropping in on pubs on the way home remains.

Superintendent John Lacy will be heading a high-profile policing operation in York with extra officers on duty.

"We will be looking for a trouble-free day," he told the Evening Press.

"It is a high-security race meeting and the city centre ban on coaches continues.

"Pubs will remain open following the success of the previous two years' meetings."

There are some restrictions on the opening times of pubs in Tadcaster as many race-goers are expected to return to the brewery town after the race meeting.

PICTURE: Supt John Lacy: looking for a trouble-free day