IT’S hardly surprising that Firvale Road – at the heart of Bournemouth pub, club and bar culture, is still in the news when it comes to crime, especially drink-related.

Alcohol is behind the majority of all recorded crime in Bournemouth.

Not much of a surprise either, but you do wonder whether this area is ever going to slip off the high end of the crime map league table.

But the issue isn’t just with the pubs and the clubs trying to make their profits from the night-time economy.

It’s with the purveyors of cheap alcohol who are fuelling the drinkers before they even set foot in the town centre premises.

Imagine if breathalysers were introduced to pubs and clubs to test revellers’ level of intoxication before they entered them?

The places would be empty, apart from designated drivers sitting quietly in the corner with their soft drinks.

You’ve got to feel for the police having to mop this mess up as revellers fuel up on cheap drink at home before pouring into town to enjoy bars’ and clubs’ hospitality.

Bournemouth – indeed many towns – dream of a Continental-style culture where families and friends of all ages come together to eat and drink in the evenings and youngsters intent on a great night out can do so without having to risk life and limb due to those who can’t hold their tempers or their booze.

We are not alone in suffering from alcohol-related crime, nor are we alone in trying to stem the tide.

But there will be no change until everyone swims in the same direction and while clubs have to watch punters smuggling cheap drink in, a change certainly isn’t going to come anytime soon.