POLICE cells in York and North Yorkshire were full again as officers struggled to cope with drunken New Year revellers.

This follows a similar situation over Christmas when all the county's cells were also full to bursting.

Officers had to put in place "contingency plans" after all the force's cells were occupied on Sunday night.

They blamed the surge in arrests on public order offences due to the excesses of people seeing in the New Year.

Inspector Mike Thompson, of North Yorkshire Police, said: "There were a number of incidents of disorder overnight on New Year's Eve. The cells were again full and it was a busy night across the county."

It was the same last week when, at one point, every cell in the county was utilised and the police had to make contingency plans to deal with the overflow, again primarily due to public order offences due to the time of year.

Last week, The Press reported that there were extra officers working in York city centre because of the run up to Christmas.

Police were out in force for the Yorkshire derby between York City and Halifax Town on the Saturday before Christmas, after the same fixture brought mayhem to the city's streets last season. As reported in The Press at the time, officers took no chances after riot police were called in earlier in the year when brawling City and Halifax Town fans brought the city centre to a standstill.

The fixture had been scheduled for Boxing Day, but was brought forward to December 23 because the club was reluctant to foot the bill for Bank Holiday policing costs.

A dozen people were arrested as rival fans clashed before and after the Yorkshire derby in April, which Halifax won 2-0.

About 90 officers were on duty in the city on Easter Monday to deal with a series of incidents and York officers liaised with West Yorkshire Police to identify troublemakers.

A group of 200 away supporters were escorted from KitKat Crescent to the station after the match.

Chief Supt Madgwick said at the time that most of those arrested were from Halifax. He said there had been no particular intelligence to suggest trouble, but said police had been aware of the potential.

Boozy and violent celebrations 'underlines alcohol problems'

Conservatives today accused the Government of failing to get the sensible-drinking message across to young people, after the party's health spokesman said there was "unprecedented disorder" at the New Year celebrations.

Shadow health secretary Andrew Lansley said leadership was needed to bring about a cultural change in Britain's attitudes to alcohol.

He was speaking after Cabinet minister Hazel Blears reignited the row over 24-hour drinking by suggesting that Britons enjoy getting drunk too much ever to adopt a continental-style café culture.

Her comments appeared to contradict Government claims, before its introduction in 2005, that round-the-clock pub opening would encourage more responsible drinking habits.

Mr Lansley said today that Britain's problem with alcohol was reflected in a New Year's Eve of widespread drunkenness and violence.

The Government had delayed by more than a year a sensible drinking campaign promised at the time of the introduction of 24-hour licensing, he said. "The unprecedented disorder over the New Year took a dreadful toll upon those affected and placed a great burden on our NHS. We have to reverse this."