POLICE had less trouble to deal with on Millennium Eve Night than on a typical Friday night, West Somerset police chief, Inspector Rod Price, said this week.

The celebrations went off without any major problems and there were only a handful of calls for assistance, although on New Year's Day there were complaints of assault and and criminal damage from the previous night.

In his annual licencing report, Mr Price praised the way the majority of licensees had managed their premises throughout 1999.

He said that most licensees had behaved honourably but some had "fallen short of the time-honoured standards expected from licensees".

One was cautioned for aiding and abetting consumption after hours and allowing drunkenness on licensed premises.

A further 15 licensees were formally advised that they were not managing their premises satisfactorily, turning a blind eye to drunkenness, late drinking and failing to provide adequate Doorsafe trained staff.

Mr Price said: "This is particularly disappointing, but for those that have in effect been shown the yellow card you can be assured any further breaches will result in formal proceedings.

"They have a statutory responsibility that rests fairly and squarely with them not to permit drunkenness, violent, quarrelsome or indeed riotous conduct to take place on their premises.

"There have been occasions when individuals have been permitted to get in a drunken state.

"You only have to look at their condition and it is blatantly obvious that they have been allowed to consume alcohol while drunk. Why let so few spoil it for so many?"

He added that drunkenness was not solely down to licensees: "We know that alcohol can be obtained through a variety of means.

"Not all of it is consumed on licensed premises, it could be at home or in the local park. It is incumbent upon us all to address the issue."

On a more upbeat note, Mr Price said domestic burglary had fallen by almost a third but burglary in commercial premises, garden sheds and other buildings was up by 11 per cent.

Violent crime had dropped by one per cent but there were still 302 assaults last year - almost one a day.

"I am pleased that our overall crime rate is down four per cent and our detection rate is 35 per cent, which is above the national average, He said. "These figures are encouraging and are not achieved solely by the actions of the police service. It is a team effort."