POLICE horses are being brought to Bournemouth in what police deem another weapon in their armoury to reduce late-night violence.

With a total capacity for 35,000 drinkers per night in the town and thousands spilling from pubs and clubs in the early hours, alcohol-related violent crime is on the up.

Dorset Police has responded by bringing four mounted patrols from Avon and Somerset constabulary to police the town centre at weekends for a trial period.

And if the scheme is successful the riders and their mounts could become a regular feature.

Insp Neil MacBean of Bournemouth Police said: "Town-centre violence has gone up and so has disorder, and it's something we need to address at an early stage.

"This should show we mean business.

"We hope the presence of police horses may diffuse the heat in situations which may be about to develop - they do have quite an imposing presence.

"We hope they will have a calming effect and will act as back-up to foot patrols. They'll also be able to get to incidents a lot quicker.

"This is another weapon in the armoury to try to reduce violence in the town. Hopefully people will act with surprise when they see the horses."

The horses are expected to arrive towards the end of March and will be outside areas such as Horseshoe Common at key times for three weekends. If the trial goes well police are remaining open-minded Police call in cavalry to keep peace that they could be given a regular presence in the town.

"Bringing in police horses is as much about public reassurance as reducing violent crime" - added Insp MacBean.

Cllr Anson Westbook, chair-man of the council's licensing board, has described the move as "a first-class initiative".

He added: "Any further assistance that can be given to cut anti social behaviour has to be praised. The police need all the assistance they can get but they do an excellent job."

Police horses have usually only been used in Bournemouth for big events.

From this Saturday and all next week, the Daily Echo will be running a series of features on drinking and drinking culture, addressing the social, health, cultural and policing aspects of the subject.

We'll be asking for your views. See the Daily Echo from Saturday.