FINAL preparations are being made for a conference to produce a plan for tackling drink-related crime.

The conference - described by Cleveland's Deputy Chief Constable Ron Hogg as a meeting of minds -will be held on Teesside next month.

Those involved in the conference met at Cleveland Police headquarters this week.

PC Nick Edgar, one of the conference organisers, said: "We have done a lot of work with some of our partner agencies, such as housing groups and local councils, but not too much with other groups.

"This is a way of cementing bonds. Both the health and probation services have major roles to play in formulating plans to deal with this problem."

Alcohol misuse results in a £20bn-a-year bill to tackle disorder, disease, anti-social behaviour, crime and domestic violence. In the UK, alcohol is the catalyst for about 1.2 million violent incidents a year -about half of all violent crimes.

About 360,000 domestic incidents are linked to drink, and more than 60 per cent of the population say alcohol-related violence is worsening.

Up to 17 million working days are lost through alcohol-related absences, and at peak times, up to 70 per cent of admissions to accident and emergency departments are caused by drink related incidents, with up to 1,000 suicides linked to alcohol.