WITH Britain about to welcome "Continental" 24-hour drinking laws, people are running for cover.

Critics say we are a society on the brink of collapse, where there will be no respite from drunken, violent louts. A stretched police force will not be able to cope as pubs and nightclubs stay open all day, every day, they claim.

Of course, as we reveal today, the reality could be somewhat different.

Just ten of East Lancashire's pubs and off-licences have applied to take advantage of 24-hour licences - three of those are supermarkets and one is a hotel. Suddenly, the notion that licensing changes are about to make things worse seems improbable - although only time will tell.

But the idea that decent, law-abiding people can enjoy a drink at their leisure is only right.

The moral panic over adopting these new adult drinking laws looks like it may be misplaced.

Of course, there will still be those who can't drink like responsible adults - but then we have always had those. A century ago the Temperance movement was rallying against violent teenage drunks and 'women behaving like men' - 'ladettes' in today's parlance.

Those who want to blame new licensing laws for a rise in binge drinking may be hard pressed to find evidence, in East Lancashire at least.