POLICE and landlords of pubs and bars in Bradford on Avon are teaming up to form a Pubwatch group.

Bradford is the only town in west Wiltshire without a scheme which operates on a 'banned from one pub, banned from all' principle.

Sgt Mark Rees said: "We have had meetings with some of the licensees about it already and it's being quite well received.

"I think a lot of the impetus came from when we visited one pub to look out for underage drinkers.

"I think the landlords now realise we want to support them and if we work together on these sorts of issues we can tackle problems.

Members of the Licensed Victuallers' Association in Bradford have operated their own informal scheme for five years but Riverside Inn landlord Peter Eveleigh said some of the momentum with it had been lost with a poor turn out at meetings.

He said: "We still have a good ring-around system though whereby we warn other licensees if we think someone is becoming a problem. The challenge we face is to get all the members to work together.

"I think the important thing for a scheme is to bring in the off-licence traders in the town too because if we are all working together then we can have more of an idea of how much people have drunk before they get to our premises.

Part of the reasoning behind setting up the schemes is to help landlords prepare for the new Licensing Act due in 2005. The Act will mean a relaxation of permitted drinking hours, potentially to 24 hours a day.

Licensing officer Jacqui Gallimore, who works with Pubwatch groups all over west Wiltshire, said: "We're talking about people who commit all sorts of offences which can be something like violence towards licensees or bar staff, or being drunk and abusive. It's up to the licensees what boundaries they set, which is the good thing about the scheme.