Wakefield District Community Safety Partnership have launched a campaign to make young drinkers safer.

The campaign will capitalise on some of the initiatives the Community Safety Partnership has supported over the last year, including the Westgate night time traffic restrictions, the introduction of an alcohol exclusion zone and the presence of night life marshals.

It follows new research which reveals for the first time locally that binge drinking can dramatically increase the chances of becoming a violent crime victim.

The Think More, Drink Less campaign targets people in Wakefield city centre, Castleford and Pontefract in the run up to the festive season when alcohol consumption increases. Binge drinking, it warns, increases the chances of being arrested, ending up in the cells, needing accident and emergency treatment and getting into illegal taxis.

City centre billboards, and posters, beer mats and bar runners in licensed premises urge young people to ‘not be a drinkhead’ and to ‘think more and drink less’. Texts containing safety messages will also be sent via Bluetooth technology in certain bars.

Findings, released for the first time, show 70% of assault victims attending two local hospitals for emergency treatment had been drinking. Almost one third, 31%, of all assaults took place on licensed premises and 17% outside of them. Nearly half, 49%, of the victims were under the age of 26.

The research by Wakefield District Community Safety Partnership, which is also funding the campaign, at Pinderfields and Pontefract General Hospitals is ongoing. The vast proportion of violent crime comprises serious wounding, assault, common assault, robbery and harassment. Alcohol is believed to be a contributory factor in 52% of recorded cases. Both the offenders and victims tend to be young men.

For more details please contact the Community Safety Partnership on (01924) 305120