Deborah Johnson spent Saturday night on the town in Darlington and found the response from drinkers to the new late-licencing laws was not as enthusiastic as most people expected.

WALKING through the town centre at 2am on a Sunday can be a scene of mayhem, as hundreds leave nightclubs to embark on a long and sometimes noisy stagger home.

But this time it was different. No one was around. Taxi ranks were full with waiting cars, pizza shops were empty, and it was strangely silent.

I assumed drinkers would be doing something similar to me, alternating between the town's two nightspots open until 4am - Atlantic and Escapade - and that the mayhem would only be delayed for a couple of hours.

But apparently not.

Having just left Atlantic, which had been rapidly emptying since 1am, I had high hopes for Escapade, a magnet to teenagers. The streets en route were deserted, but as we approached the nightclub we saw swarms of people outside.

I steeled myself for a very long wait in a very long queue; but no, these people were waiting for taxis. Pushing through to get to the nightclub entrance, we were stopped by a door supervisor, telling us we couldn't come in.

"Although we are open until 4am, we've stopped people getting in from 2am," she said.

In fact, the only movement was people pushing by to get out.

So that was that. It was 2.05am, and I left for the home feeling short-changed. Having prepared myself to brave it out until 4am, I ended up getting home at 2.15am - earlier than I do after a normal Saturday night out.

Could it be people just don't want to stay out that late?