And, it is not just your backstreet boozers or local pubs, it is established names.

You only have to look at Friargate in Preston to see Mood has gone, Bar Censsa has gone, these are two fixtures of the average night out in the city centre.

It would be easy to blame it on all these things and there is no doubt all of them have had an impact, but there is inconvenient truth people are still avoiding - cheap booze.

You go out on a Friday or Saturday night and you will still see kids staggering all over the pavement, topped up on alcopops and, for me, that is our problem.

For too long, pubs, bars and clubs in this city have flogged that same dead horse which is a nightlife reminiscent to the worse parts of Magaluf, but if Preston is going to change then that has to change - and it is the people who run the bars that can change it.

Look at the bars which are closing and you can see these are the ones which have been offering these cheap drink-til-you-drop deals and that is no coincidence, whereas the ones that do things differently that are flourishing.

I do not just mean The Cocktail Factory or Vintage; look at Cafe Manyana which is selling cocktails and it is rocking most nights which is further proof that it works.

People say that students drive the night-time economy in Preston and they cannot afford to pay for expensive drinks but they probably have more disposable income than anyone else.

They are here on a student loan or their parents' credit cards and they will pay for nice drinks in a nice environment, we have seen that in our bars and I believe that if people out there want to make the change, they will.

I guess it is easier to sit back, keep doing what you have always done and blame everything that goes wrong on the credit crunch.

But, the fact is that Preston has got to change, we have to get rid of this alcopop culture we have tagged ourselves with - and it is only the owners of the bars who can do it.

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