POLICE across Hampshire will be launching a county-wide blitz on public drunkenness and rowdy behaviour in the new year.

Senior officers have been working with council chiefs in a bid to stamp out problems. Measures will include a high-visibility police presence in known trouble spots.

Winchester will be among areas targeted following a worrying number of after-hours attacks in the city centre.

Officers plan to carry out frequent visits to city pubs and more use of CCTV to catch offenders.

Police in Southampton, Fareham and other Hampshire towns say they also intend to crackdown on antisocial drunken behaviour in the coming months.

Winchester police are working alongside the city council and the city centre management team to launch a safety scheme, beginning with high-visibility patrols.

Some have blamed the upsurge in incidents on longer licensing hours which are attracting revellers from across the south.

Sgt Paul Robertson said: "Drunkenness is a major problem. Bars are staying open longer and people partying in Winchester are coming from a wider area.

"They are hearing the night scene is really good. Recently I have met people coming from Brixton in London, Surrey, Bournemouth, Portsmouth and Southampton.

"I am very concerned about quality of life for residents. Elderly people are now frightened to walk the streets.

"There are serious drunkenness problems and they need sorting out."

Research shows most offenders, and victims of violence, are males aged 16 to 25.

Southampton city centre will also be targeted. Chief Superintendent Graham Wyeth, based at Southampton Central police station, said: "We are considering our options at the moment, particularly in light of the fact that Southampton is very much keen to develop the 24-hour economy.

"The number of people who come into Southampton city centre as a regional centre for socialising is phenomenal.

"At weekends, it is something like 60,000 people frequenting 320 licensed premises in a 1.5- km area. Although the vast majority are law-abiding, we do carry out high-visibility policing in key areas and will be continuing that policy.

"We already have pubwatch and clubwatch schemes and the level of reported crime is low compared with the number of people out drinking."

Inspector Simon Wrigglesworth, from Fareham police station, said: "A lot of our initiatives are based on community policing, including public meetings with the community, and that will be ongoing in the new year."