TIME was finally called on a century of drinking restrictions today.

And pubs, clubs and other licensed premises were gearing up for the new era of drinking, with the launch of the new, more flexible licensing laws.

The Evening Press revealed yesterday that North Yorkshire Police are preparing for their toughest-ever co-ordinated crackdown on binge-drinking disorder, in a bid to ensure the changes do not turn sour.

Deterrents include on-the-spot fines for offences such as urinating in the street and being drunk and disorderly. Although many city pubs have won extended hours under the new Licensing Act, not all of them are planning to exercise their rights, with some planning to stick to their traditional closing times. One major change is at the Wetherspoons pub the Posterngate, in Piccadilly, York, where alcohol was being served from 9am today.

Manager Paula Pidd said: "I think we should be okay as regards to trouble because we're not on a drinking run, the people who will take advantage of our late opening hours are probably people stopping in hotels who now don't have to rush that last pint.

"It's going to be interesting to see how 24-hour-drinking develops.

"Many pubs and clubs are in a wait and see mindset, and I think Christmas will create a false impression. We won't really know how the late licences are affecting the city until the party season finishes."

York council licensing chiefs have received 844 licensing applications under the new act, of which 361 were for extensions to opening hours.

Of those, 175 hours extensions were listed to be heard before a licensing committee, but only 111 of these hearings were held.

That was because 51 cases were mediated outside court, seven premises withdrew their applications to open for longer, and one was dismissed by a licensing committee.

Three licensing hearings are due to be heard today, leaving two more left still to be heard.

Updated: 09:54 Thursday, November 24, 2005