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Manchester police: City centre 'too dangerous' after midnight

Police are wary of venturing into Manchester city centre after midnight, as alcohol has made it too dangerous to guarantee public safety, a police chief said. Inspector Ian Hanson said relaxed licensing had led to chaos ‘spiralling out of control’.

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Violent drinking culture 'endemic across the UK'

City centres littered with aggressive drunk revellers have become "endemic across the UK", not just in Manchester, a senior member of Greater Manchester Police told Good Morning Britain.

Inspector Ian Hanson was speaking after he made comments about avoiding Manchester city centre at night because there were too many drunk people and not enough police.

However, he said if "we are being realistic" alcohol-fuelled violence was "ingrained across the UK", not just in Manchester.

Safety in Manchester city centre 'at crisis point'

A senior member of Greater Manchester police has warned the drunken behaviour has become so bad, public safety is "at crisis point" and "sooner or later something horrific is going to happen".

I would not be there past midnight now. I do not believe it is safe there. The situation is at crisis point.

We have got the fastest-growing night-time economy outside London with a new bar opening every weekend. There are a quarter of a million people coming into the city centre to enjoy themselves.

But at four in the morning we will have just half a dozen police officers on duty in the city centre, or even as few as four officers, which is beyond belief.

Cops are getting called to nightclubs to break up fights at 6am on a Sunday morning....Sooner or later something horrific is going to happen.

– Inspector Ian Hanson

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Manchester city centre 'too dangerous' for police

Manchester city centre is too dangerous for police after midnight who blamed 24-hour drinking laws for creating alcohol fuelled mayhem.

Inspector Hanson said the police presence on the streets overnight was stretched thin by cuts. Credit: PA

Inspector Ian Hanson pointed to a more continental-style of drinking laws adopted in 2005 for the chaos "spiralling out of control".

Insp Hanson, 47, said he would no longer go into central Manchester late at night when the weekend drinking culture is in full swing at the city’s 300 pubs, bars and nightclubs.

Hanson, who chairs the local police federation, also blamed an overstretched force which needed more money and more resources to get the city centre back under control.

Read: Police urge City revellers to bey 'on-street alcohol ban'

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