POLICE and licensees in Waveney will soon be able to use a new computer database to help them call time on alcohol-fuelled bad behaviour in pubs.Scores of pubs in Lowestoft, Beccles, Bungay, Halesworth and Southwold are members of the successful Pubwatch scheme, which sees anyone who is banned from one pub banned from all Pubwatch premises.

POLICE and licensees in Waveney will soon be able to use a new computer database to help them call time on alcohol-fuelled bad behaviour in pubs.

Scores of pubs in Lowestoft, Beccles, Bungay, Halesworth and Southwold are members of the successful Pubwatch scheme, which sees anyone who is banned from one pub banned from all Pubwatch premises.

With the busy festive season just weeks away, police and publicans are getting ready for the launch of a new online system which will help them to target troublemakers and let revellers enjoy their nights out in safety.

Pubwatch Online will store photographs and details of the people who are banned from pubs and clubs in the district, allowing them to be easily identified by door and bar staff wherever they try to go.

Suffolk police crime prevention officer Bruce Granger said: 'Until now, the only way to identify people who have been banned under the Pubwatch project has been for photographs to be circulated around the members of the scheme.

'This new online database will mean that all the information is kept in one place where it is accessible. Door staff and bar staff will be able to see who they shouldn't be letting in or serving.

'It is a much more effective way of doing this and it can also be more widely used than ever before. So far, we have often been limited to premises with door staff on duty who are able to recognise the people involved.

'This new scheme will allow smaller pubs and clubs to get involved because as long as their bar staff have access to the internet, they will be able to see all the information.'

He added: 'We have a small amount of training left to complete and hopefully the online scheme will be launched in time for Christmas. This is part of our on-going commitment to keeping the Pubwatch database updated and to tackling the problems associated with the night-time economy in the district.'