YOU may not have realised it but we experienced a licensing revolution this New Year - one that could forever change the way we view alcohol in this country.

Pubs had the opportunity to open for 36 hours non-stop, from 11am, New Year's Eve to 11pm New Year's Day, as part of a Home Office review of the country's licensing laws.

It seems to have passed off without mass riots in the street, meaning the experiment will be repeated and pave the way for all day drinking all year round. I can see substantial benefits in developing a more continental approach to licensing. We have already seen the expansion of all-day Chinese and Indian buffets and allowing unlimited licensing hours should encourage pubs and clubs to offer food all day as well.

In Middlesbrough and other urban towns we should encourage people who have finished work to stay in the centre to enjoy a drink or a meal rather than a mass exodus to the suburbs and the ensuing congestion. Shops will soon follow suit if they know there is trade about and soon a dark and eerie street can be transformed into a buzzing shopping plaza.

There are obvious public order and safety benefits in a gradual dispersion of people rather than have pubs kick masses onto the streets at 11pm and then nightclubs at 2am. So the opportunity for progress is there, but we must make sure we've got the safeguards in place now.

I'm sceptical about happy hours and other cheap drink promotions that seem to be about throwing as much drink down your neck as you can in as short a time as possible.

When such promotions result in aggressive drunks causing damage or attacking people with fists, feet, bottles or glasses then I do feel the landlord - effectively their 'drug' supplier - should be held partly responsible.

And in an extension of the theory that the polluter must pay, pubs, clubs and restaurants should be told to account for any mess or litter arising in the nearby streets from patrons. The big breweries and pub chains will benefit from this shake-up so there is no reason why the public purse should have to meet any additional policing cost. We need some innovative thinking on the subject. Instead of simply taxing pubs, let them pay a charge which will really benefit a town.

Perhaps every pub or nightclub should have to pay the wage of an extra policeman or community warden, or fund a litter patrol if they want to open during plum hours. That way the town centre sees real benefit rather than the money being absorbed into a black hole.

As with many things, when it comes to alcohol it is a small minority of people who spoil it for the majority and it's usually the same faces who keep causing the trouble. The trouble-makers can he easily identified and should face lengthy bans from licensed premises or even the whole town centre until they mend their ways.

This will help get the message across to young people that alcohol is no excuse for loutish behaviour. Introduced properly all day licensing can bring real benefit to the public and business - I'll drink to that.