Croydon's night time economy is booming.

There are currently 34 venues with public entertainment licences in the town centre, many with opening hours stretching until 2am. And under the 2003 Licensing Act some could apply to stay open even later.

The act, which comes into force on February 7, is aimed at preventing crime and disorder, as well as protecting the public.

But a report published by the Greater London Authority (GLA) highlights Croydon as an area with worrying levels of binge drinking and labels parts of the town as virtual "no-go zones for families".

The Government department responsible for the changes, the Department for Culture Media and Sport, has already proposed ways to pay for extra policing to enforce the policy or tackle disorder, including higher premiums for larger town and city centre pubs.

The Croydon Guardian spoke to the council, the police and representatives from the drinks industry to hear their views on the impact of the new laws.

The council Extended licensing hours would help to control antisocial behaviour in the town centre, according to councillor Paul Smith.

Croydon's cabinet member for crime and public protection believes that allowing clubs and bars to close at different times will reduce the number of people on the streets at 2am.

"There are a series of pinch points in the town centre particularly around 2am on Sunday when a number of premises close and you have a large number of people on the streets at the same time."

Coun Smith argued schemes like Best Bar None, which promotes high standards of pub management, shows that the drinks industry in Croydon can behave responsibly.

"In Croydon we have a successful night-time economy and responsible bar managers as evidenced by the Best Bar None scheme."

He added: "I don't think it's right to say that Croydon is a no-go zone for families. Although the town centre does have a large number of bars which cater for the 20 to 30 age group.

"What we want to see in Croydon is a greater variety. There's lots of restaurants in South End but very few open late in the town centre.

"We would like to see more live music and activities for families rather than just bars, which are reaching saturation point."

The bar owner The Black Sheep Bar's owner, Paul Bossick, believes the pub trade is tough enough without opening all night.

He said: "If all of the surrounding bars go for later licences then we will probably have to tag along to keep up. I think the bars in the surrounding areas will probably extend from 11pm to 12pm.

"If we found over a course of time that is hurting our business then we may apply for a later licence. We certainly don't have any plans to go 24 hours. It's a hard enough business as it is."

And like Coun Smith he believes that staggering opening hours will mean less problems on the street.

"There wouldn't be the flash points of so many thousand people on the streets at the same time, which should make life a little bit easier."

The MP Croydon South's Conservative MP, Richard Ottaway, believes extended licensing hours will cause more problems for the town and it was unfair for taxpayers to pay for it.

He said: "At weekends up to 20 extra police officers are drafted into Croydon town centre in order to keep order in the small area dominated by a dozen substantial drinks outlets.

"These are officers who could be deployed in the suburbs of Croydon and aren't. The cost is being borne by taxpayers when it should be borne by the drinks retailers who profit from the super-pubs' and fuel the binge drinking culture.

"Increasing the licence fees on 900 drinks outlets in Croydon to pay for the trouble caused outside a dozen outlets in the town centre is plainly unfair.

"The hundreds of decent pubs and restaurants who cause no trouble at all should not have to bear the cost of policing the few."

The police Chief Inspector David Clayton says few bars will choose to open later, meaning there would be no surge in antisocial behaviour.

But he said he supported any measure to increase police powers to close problem bars quickly.

He said: "There's not been any appetite among the landlords in Croydon to extend their hours. The new legislation gives pubs the opportunity to apply for extended hours but there's no evidence that many of them will."

He added that without a large number of bars taking up the opportunity to open later there would be no need to significantly increase the number of police in the town centre.

According to Chief Insp Clayton it is the big town centre chains which should pick up the tab for paying for any extra policing which might be needed in the future.

He agreed policing the town centre at weekends did mean moving officers from outer parts of the borough, but he expected more police officers to be assigned to the town to take into account the size of Croydon's night-time economy.