'Binge drinking' bill for pubs

PRIME minister Tony Blair has called on the drinks industry to pay for street policing in the battle against Britain's 'binge drinking' culture.

At a meeting with industry representatives at the headquarters of Diageo, Blair said almost half of violent crime is alcohol-related and that Britain's drinking problem was costing the country £20bn a year.

'The Government is working with the industry on the development of a social responsibility scheme which may well include some financial contribution to the costs of policing our town centres and tackling some of the cost of alcohol misuse,' he said. 'For example, it could be used to pay for additional community support officers, additional bus services, or for additional street cleaning.'

Shares in several bar operators slipped after the speech on Thursday afternoon. Shares in Mitchells & Butlers, which runs the All Bar One and O'Neill chains, were up 3p in early trading but ended the day 3 1/4p lower at 252p Yates Group slipped 1/2p to 99 1/2p and shares in late bar and nightclub operator Luminar had risen 13p in early trading on the back of upbeat results but later sank back to close flat at 448p.

At the seminar, organised to discucss the Government's National Alcohol Strategy, Blair said: 'Millions of people drink alcohol responsibly every day. No-one wants to stop that pleasure. But there is a clear and growing problem on our town and city centre streets up and down the country on Friday and Saturday nights.'

'At a time when overall crime is falling, alcohol related violent crime is rising. New powers are there. They need to be used.'

The Government will start a police campaign in consultation with the drinks industry to cut down on under-age drinking. And next year, the Licensing Act comes into effect which will give police more power to shut down problem premises and will give residents more say in the granting of licenses.