BY DAY Micklegate forms a vital part of York's tourist trail - a picturesque gateway to the city's historic treasures. By night, as revellers gather in their hundreds to stagger from pub to pub, the only tourists left are, according to revellers, those "sending postcards from the edge".

With its reputation for drunkenness and violence, Micklegate has gained an unenviable notoriety - often becoming a spectacle of excess which leaves behind a trail of destruction and disgust.

York's new police chief, Jim Kilmartin, says he will no longer tolerate the high level of violent crime along the gently-sloping stretch, and as officers struggled to cope with troubles on one cold February evening, it was easy to see why.

The night starts off in good spirits. Cheery crowds meet in a spacious neon-lit interior at the start of the run. Drinks flow across the bar as punters holler above the heavy throb of dance music.

From 7pm onwards there is a steady flow of drinkers, ill-dressed for the icy temperatures, shuffling in packs through the arches of Micklegate Bar.

Two hours later the crowds are working their way down a dozen or so similar venues which form the run into town, occasionally shivering in queues under the watchful gaze of bouncers.

Early on there is little trouble. Ebullient voices shout across the street and, indoors, the occasional alcohol-fuelled argument threatens to boil over.

But, by last orders, when it seems all other pubs have poured out their contents into the queues outside nearby nightclubs, the air is charged with the threat of chaos.

Loose gangs of drunken men wander aimlessly, intimidating passers-by and motorists with jeers and window knocks. In the middle of the road a pair of young women screech with laughter as they force a bus driver to slam on his brakes.

Back in Micklegate, where trickles of urine are now crawling out of every available doorway, two police officers who stop to question a drunk are forced to call in reinforcements when he lashes out and then resists arrest.

Within minutes he is bundled into the van under a barrage of boos and cheers from woozy clubgoers queueing to continue the evening's excesses.

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