Police are pleased to report that one of the busiest party weekends of the year has passed off smoothly.
Only six people were arrested in Bath city centre on Friday night for suspected public order offences and assaults. Alcohol was a contributory factor in a number of these offences.
The penultimate Friday before Christmas is traditionally one of the busiest of the year with Christmas parties and other festive events.
Avon and Somerset Police ran a number of operations on Friday and over the weekend to address any increase in incidents. This was in addition to the usual high-visibility patrols that take place across the force area.
Police arrested a number of people for suspected offences which included assault, breach of the peace, criminal damage and public order offences. There were also a number of arrests for suspected possession of a controlled drug.
In Bristol on Friday three people were also arrested for providing a positive breath test for drink driving as part of Operation Tonic stop checks and two people in South Gloucestershire were also arrested for this.
There were also two arrests for suspected burglary in Bristol and two for suspected shop lifting.
Chief Supt Jon Stratford said: “A number of these offences were related to nights out when people have had too much to drink and get involved in incidents they later regret.
“On Friday and Saturday nights it is more common to see incidents involving assaults and public order offences where people are drunk and looking to cause trouble.
“This can have serious implications and can lead to arrest and a criminal record, so a major part of our Christmas awareness campaign has been about reminding people to be aware of how much they are drinking to encourage them to avoid these types of situations.
“We want everyone to have the calm and trouble-free Christmas they deserve, but if people are causing trouble or committing offences against others we will make arrests and bring to justice those responsible.”
He added: “We put on extra resources on busy evenings and have run a number of operations across the force area during the run up to Christmas, such as drink-drive stop checks, additional high-visibility patrols and drug testing on entry to pubs and clubs.”
Members of the communications team were also tweeting about the incidents that police were dealing with throughout Friday evening both in Bristol and across the force area.
During the evening, updates included information about road closures in Bath because of icy conditions, arrests made during the evening across the force, fines issued for urinating in public and seizure of a vehicle for no insurance. The hash tag #xmasudeserve reached over 17,500 people on that evening.
Chief Supt Stratford said: “We had some very positive feedback from members of the public about the twitter operation as people said they felt reassured to know the police were out and about keeping them safe.
“It also highlighted the sorts of issues people can get find themselves in and we hope this will help serve as a warning to others.
“We don’t want to discourage people from enjoying themselves on the run up to Christmas but want to remind them to do so safely and responsibly.”
For more information about the Christmas campaign and advice on staying safe go to www.avonandsomerset.police.uk/christmas.
