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Recent research (Barton and Husk, 2012) suggested that in the UK we are seeing a shift from the traditional “pub-club” drinking pattern to a “home-pub-club” pattern. In the latter model often excessive early evening drinking is occurring in the private sphere in the absence of external control, leading to problems when the drinkers enter the public sphere. Moreover, pre-loading has become a key aspect in the drinking patterns of many of the Night Time Economy (NTE) population with around 60-70 per cent of people drinking some alcohol prior to going out. In the previous work (Barton and Husk, 2012) 50 per cent of people were drinking significant quantities of alcohol prior to entering the NTE. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

However, whilst these statistics give a general overview of patterns of drinking, they fail to provide the depth required to uncover potential mechanisms. It is generally assumed that the driving force behind this cultural shift in alcohol use is price. However, the feeling is that this is too simplistic. To explore this, the authors conducted a set of in-depth qualitative interviews with young people to ascertain why pre-loading is such an entrenched aspect of their drinking culture (n=20).

This paper provides the preliminary findings of that research. It shows, amongst other things, that beyond the price factor many young people seemingly need alcohol to cope with the NTE; that they prefer the safety and control of the environment that drinking in the private sphere provides; and that some of them (despite drinking alcohol) simply do not like pubs.

The paper adds to the discourse on pre-loading by suggesting richly described underlying mechanisms of action.

The aim of this paper is to focus on the impact of alcohol pre‐loading on behaviour in the night time economy (NTE).

The project was commissioned by Devon and Cornwall Police. During the course of six months in late 2010/early 2011, 597 arrestees were asked a series of questions relating to their drinking patterns on the evening prior to their arrest.

The research shows that there is a shift from the traditional “pub‐club” drinking pattern to a “home‐pub‐club” pattern where excessive early evening drinking is occurring in the private sphere in the absence of external control. Moreover, pre‐loading has become a key aspect in the drinking patterns of many of the NTE population with around 50 per cent of people drinking significant quantities of alcohol prior to entering the NTE. It also demonstrates that those that pre‐load self‐report higher levels of drinking and thus higher levels of intoxication than those that do not.

Findings are constrained by sample bias, as all informants came from the criminal justice system.

When looking specifically at the relationship between pre‐loading and violence, the research showed that there is a relationship between high levels of self‐reported intoxication and self‐reported feelings of aggression, especially in males. This manifested in the NTE as flash points which seemed to occur at entry points to pubs and clubs. Those pre‐loaders that were arrested for violent crimes cite excessive drinking as the significant factor in their behaviour. The research concludes that pre‐loading alcohol prior to entering the NTE is a major challenge to those charged with keeping order in and around city centre pubs and clubs.

The paper adds to the discourse on alcohol related violence in the night time economy, and the negative consequences of pricing drinkers out of licensed premises.