A RETIRING police officer has praised a pub and club watch scheme for transforming Spennymoor's image.

PC Dave Mitchell, a police officer for 31 years, believes Spennymoor Pub and Club Watch Scheme has transformed the area's nightlife, making it a safer place to drink.

The former mining town has been tarred for decades with a "roughhouse" image dating back to the days of a band of violent thugs, which called itself the Spennymoor New Breed.

Over the years, the town's nightlife has been affected by a perception that it was not a safe place to enjoy a drink.

PC Mitchell is convinced that since the scheme started ten months ago that image has changed.

He said: "The pub and club watch scheme has improved the relationship between linked premises and the police. We have that contact which has brought everyone together.

"The way they handle problem situations, I think, has been very professional. They have a hard job as licensees, but the one thing they are trying to do is make Spennymoor a better place for people to visit and come and drink in."

Fourteen town centre pubs are members of the scheme. They are linked by a radio system, which is connected to the town police station and provides a clear line of communication in the event of any trouble.

The group has taken drastic measures to warn potential trouble-makers that disorder will not be tolerated.

A number of people have been excluded from all pubs in the scheme during the past ten months, which PC Mitchell believes has acted as a deterrent to others.

He said: "The incidences of public disorder have decreased since the word has got round that licensees are not going to stand for it."

The scheme's chairman, Colin Fletcher, said: "It has been really hard work doing what we have had to do, but we have had the full support of Durham Constabulary. We had a bit of a hard time with different individuals, but hopefully we have made it perfectly clear that we are not going to put up with any more nonsense."

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