Drinking hours work for city

Critics of the relaxation of traditional licensing laws expected the move to bring mayhem to the city's streets - but senior police officers and council officials say it has had the opposite effect.

There were 359 incidents of violent crime in York between November 24, when new laws allowing pubs and clubs to open later came in, and December 31.

This compares with 451 incidents in the city during the same five-week period last year.

Chief Inspector Andy Hirst said: "We were concerned about what impact that was going to have on alcohol-related violence and disorder, specifically in York city centre.

"It was an unknown quantity, because there has been a lot of talk about the effects of 24-hour drinking, and while we never thought that was going to happen in York, we were concerned that the main times for policing disorder and violence were going to shift to early in the morning. So far that doesn't seem to have happened."

A previous three-hour peak of violence, which extended from 11pm to 2am, has shifted to a single peak at 1am, with incidents during that period dropping from 216 to 137.

There has, however, been a slight increase in the number of incidents at 3am, up from nine to 19.

Insp Hirst said three factors had sparked the huge drop in violence.

He said: "It could be that everybody decided to behave better this Christmas; or the impact of the new Licensing Act, which means people aren't spilling out on to the streets at the same time; or it could be down to the fact that we have robust, highly visible policing in the city centre. I suspect it is a combination of things.

"In previous years, we have focused on detecting incidents and making arrests. This year the focus has been on prevention and nipping things in the bud before they descend into violence."

York's success does not appear to be part of a national trend. A Home Office spokesman said: "Nationally, there isn't anything to suggest that figures for alcohol-related crime and disorder have altered since the Act."

Insp Hirst said York city centre had been quieter during Christmas and New Year than in previous years.

But he said he was still concerned about the long-term impact of the Licensing Act.

"My concern hasn't gone away completely," he said.

"It's early days, and Christmas isn't a good time to draw long-term conclusions from. We need to wait until the summer, when people want to be outside later, and we won't know the true impact until we have a year's data. We spent money on having extra officers out in the evenings under our Alcohol Misuse Enforcement Campaign, and we probably can't sustain that police presence through the year."

During the eight-week AMEC campaign, which coincided with the changes to licensing, uniformed police officers visited 690 pubs and clubs and made 668 arrests, largely for violent crime and public order offences. Police and trading standards officers carried out 104 test purchases with underage drinkers, and 19 licensed premises failed.

City of York Council's licensing manager, John Lacy, said some people had predicted "the world was going to end" under the new Act, but York had not suffered.

He said: "It's been one of the quietest Christmases on record.

"There is clear evidence that the new hours are delivering for the city, because we have been able to influence decisions to get extra conditions on licences. We've only had one complaint about noise, which, for the time of year, is very good. The Act has focused licensees on issues of underage sales, binge drinking and safety."

He said taxi firms had benefited from the new laws, and played a big part in stemming the violence.

"There is less pressure on the taxi firms because of the longer opening hours," he said. "They have been able to get punters away from the city really quickly, so they are not hanging around or getting into trouble."

Andrew Waller, City of York Council's deputy leader, said: "We've worked very closely with police and the licensing trade, so I think we can all take heart from the decline in violence.

"But it wasn't easy, and it will require a consistent approach from the police, the council and the licensing trade to keep it down."

What the licensees say

TREVOR KING, chairman of the Licensed Victuallers Association and landlord of the Fulford Arms in Fulford Road, York city centre, said: "We've certainly seen no increase in trouble. Originally there was a scare, and people thought there would be 24-hour drinking, but what has been introduced is a relaxation of the licensing laws. People are showing a relaxed attitude to drinking, finishing up and going home when they like.

"Some landlords have told me they are planning to revert to the old opening hours because it's been quiet - most people still need to be at work the next morning and still have the same money to spend. It costs a lot to stay open for that extra hour, so they will use their extended licences as intended - to stay open a bit longer if they are having a really good night."

Peter Brownsword, manager of Nexus and McMillans, in George Hudson Street, said business was good, but there had been fewer queues outside nightclubs because people were arriving at different times.

"People seem a lot more casual about it," he said. "There isn't nearly as much pressure now that places don't close at 11pm. Before the law changed, you would suddenly get an awful lot of people all in one area between 11pm and midnight, in places where they opened late.

"I think the new laws are working - people have more choice, and they're enjoying it."

Helen McCann, duty manager at the Punch Bowl, in Blossom Street, said: "We've not seen any difference in violent crime ourselves."

Neighbours see drop in attacks

SOME neighbouring areas have seen a similar drop in drink-fuelled violence to that seen in the centre of York.

Selby District Council's licensing officer, Tim Grogan, said the amount of alcohol-related violence in the town had also fallen.

"The situation has improved because people are not tending to all come out of the pubs at 11pm," he said. "In Selby, people used to come out of the pubs at the same time, and drift off to one of the five late venues we had.

"It caused a problem then, and again when they all left at 2am. But people who just want to stay out for an extra couple of pints are now tending to stay on public houses until 2am instead."

He said landlords in Tadcaster had told their customers that they had to be in the pubs by 11.45pm if they wanted a late drink, because they would not admit people any later.

He said: "If you want to be in the pub until 2am, then quite rightly you have to be there before midnight.

"People know it's a privilege to be allowed to drink in the pub till that time, so they know they have to behave themselves.

"We on the ground knew that this was what would happen, because licensees cherish the hours and want to protect them."

PC Ian Fraser said in Ryedale and Hambleton the pattern had been similar to York.

He said: "We don't seem to have had the same level of violent incidents in the street over Christmas and the New Year as we had in previous years, so it seems to be following the same trend as York."

But John Tugwell, licensing officer for Malton, said the number of violent crimes had remained the same. From the week before Christmas to the week after New Year, there were 15 violent offences recorded - the same figure as the year before.

A spokeswoman for Humberside police said violent crime had been dropping in East Yorkshire for six months, but this was not connected to the licensing laws.

She said: "We haven't had particularly bad problems since the new Act came in, and we are keeping a close eye on the situation."

She said several spells of very cold weather, just after the new laws were introduced, had led to a decrease in the number of people going out at night.

Updated: 12:15 Thursday, January 12, 2006