CONTINENTAL cafe culture was the goal of the government's 24-hour licensing but reports say the result is binge Britain.

In Bournemouth, police officers say the 24-hour licensing has made their lives more difficult.

Sergeant John Green, who regularly deals with late night revellers, said officers frequently have to call police in other areas for help.

Sgt Green said: "Quite often we get reports of several incidents at 3 or 4am and we have to call officers from Christchurch or Poole or traffic police to help. Now we are dealing with small fights involving say eight or nine people through out the night.

"There are six or eight fights every weekend night in Bournemouth."

He said the situation was more manageable before the new licensing regulations because by 3am the town was quiet.

Previously on Friday and Satur-day nights, additional police officers worked from 7pm to 3am but now the shift runs from 9pm to 5am because the disorder happens later.

Sgt Green said: "When clubs closed earlier we were able to take the people arrested back to the station and deal with them in the early hours but because now we are called out all night we never clear the backlog."

He said he would welcome a tougher stance from the government with pubs and clubs facing being stripped of their licence if they ignore a single warning to curb disorder. The plans, announced yesterday, will be part of a package of measures designed to tackle the problems of 24-hour drinking.

Deputy chair of Bournemouth Borough Council's licensing board Cllr Andrew Morgan said the benefits of the night time economy had to be balanced with the need to prevent alcohol fuelled violence and disorder in the town.

He said he thought the powers the council currently had were about right.

But he added: "People are often surprised businesses with revoked licences can continue trading while an appeal is going through. This can sometimes be up to six months."

Town centre manager Roger Parker said he thought 24-hour licensing had reduced the possibility of trouble in places like taxi or bus queues and praised the Town Watch group for self-regulation of the night time economy.

The government is also promising a crackdown on people drinking in the street in areas where it is banned.