YORK has been implicated as the Faliraki of the North by the BBC.

Before you ask, the reporter was not Andrew Gilligan, but a journalist from Radio Five Live's breakfast programme.

A former York resident emailed the station to suggest the drink-fuelled excesses of Faliraki, the Greek resort of choice among the young party set, could be matched by most English cities come the weekend.

So Five Live eavesdropped on a York night out. The report discovered rowdy, drunken people and harassed pub door staff.

There is no doubt that York has its fair share of alcohol-related problems. But binge-drinking is a national curse and the police and licensees here have worked hard together to curb the worst effects.

Moreover, Five Live's choice of night was hardly fair: Ebor Day brings in thousands of people from miles around intent on enjoying themselves to the full. Even so, the police said it was relatively quiet with few arrests.

It was the Radio Five Live breakfast show which told listeners "Don't move to York" after minor flooding in 2002. Have they something against Yorkshire's capital?

Post-races celebrations will not worry York residents as much as the relentless tide of yob behaviour.

After our report yesterday about the York family targeted by vandals, tonight we have two more examples. An off-licence owner, convicted of selling alcohol to youths, said in his defence that he faced a barrage of abuse from children if he refused to serve them: "It's like a battleground out there."

And another court heard how residents of a Tang Hall street were terrorised by gangs pelting cars and houses with stones. The youths were not being prosecuted, but a man who grabbed an 11-year-old stone-thrower, injuring his wrist, was fined.

The new City of York Council leaders have met with Ray Mallon, Mayor of Middlesbrough, to learn how Robocop tackles anti-social behaviour. We hope constructive ways to curb the York yobs can be drawn from that meeting.

Updated: 10:45 Thursday, August 21, 2003