Massive decline in arrests for drunkenness helps take the stigma out of bingeing

The decline in prosecutions for drunkenness began in the 1980s, as police switched to using cautions. The biggest fall came after Labour introduced its 'penalty notice for disorder' scheme in 2004. As a result, says the Daily Mail, among young drinkers there is no stigma attached to drunken behaviour.

In recent years, despite warnings that Labour's move to allow 24-hour drinking  has fuelled late-night disorder, numbers have continued to slide.

Just 17,421 people were convicted of drunkenness in 2007, compared with 97,165 in 1981, the last year for directly comparable figures. The offences include being found drunk in a public place and 'drunkenness with aggravation', which included being drunk and disorderly and refusing to leave licensed premises.

The number of penalty notices for drunk and disorderly behaviour increased from 26,609 in 2004 to 46,996 by 2007, an increase of 77 per cent. Only just over half of offenders paid up.

The number of those receiving either a conviction or a caution, meanwhile, fell by 76 per cent from 97,890 in 1981 to 23,533 in 2007. Under government rules for counting the number of offenders brought to justice - a key police target - penalty notices carry the same weight as a conviction through the courts. Critics, including rank-and-file police, say this has placed huge pressure on officers to take the 'soft option'.

Read the rest of this item from the Daily Mail here