ALCOHOL-RELATED crime in Middlesbrough has increased, figures reveal.

Offences in pubs and clubs across the town rose by 46.1 per cent last year, compared with 2001.

Police are concerned that the rise can be set against an increase in overall crime across the Middlesbrough district of 6.2 per cent over the same period.

There was a 27. 5 per cent increase in offences at town centre licensed premises - 1,782 incidents - last year, compared with 2001.

News of the rise comes as the Vienna nightspot, in the town's Exchange Place, has applied for a 1am extension to its public entertainment licence on Mondays, Tuesday and Wednesdays and for minimum entry charges to be waived.

Vienna owner Wessex Taverns will tell today's meeting of Middlesbrough Council's licensing committee that two nearby night spots are not required to levy entrance charges.

The charges were introduced by the council to discourage pub crawls.

In a letter to the council from Cleveland Police, Julia Hatton, the force's legal advisor, said: "There are 33 premises in the town centre with the benefit of special hours certificates, of which Vienna is one. This number is high enough and increasing late-night capacity midweek will stretch police resources beyond capacity."

Philip Parker, of the Vienna and a Middlesbrough Pub Watch member, said he acknowledged the problems faced by the police, but none related to the premises he runs.