Every weekend tens of thousands of young people descend on the city centre to enjoy a night out drinking in its many bars and clubs.

Nottingham now boasts a total of 358 licensed premises within an area of one square mile but has gained an unenviable reputation for alcohol-fuelled violence.

The government believes moves to allow pubs and bars to stay open longer will help curb binge-drinking - blamed for an 11% rise in violent offences last year. However, police chiefs fear extending licensing hours could lead to an increase in violent crime.

The Nottinghamshire force has installed an innovative software system which combines the administrative needs of licensing with a powerful intelligence capability that delivers information on alcohol-related crime and disorder, allowing officers to record information about licensed premises and the number of incidents and visits by police.

The Inn Keeper system is designed to help police identify problem premises and patterns of disorder much more quickly, thereby improving efficiency and reducing administrative effort and routine tasks.

All information related to licensed premises, including incidents of alcohol-related violence and disorder, under-age or after hours drinking, and other breaches of licensing conditions, is recorded on the system.

The database, which also includes details of all security staff working in licensed premises, has been central to the success of Nottinghamshire Police's alcohol-related violence reduction project. The aim of the £1.2 million initiative was to target alcohol fuelled town centre violence and the fear of such violence.

The Nottinghamshire project resulted in an 18% reduction in the number of reported alcohol-related assaults.

"Having this information instantly available has proved invaluable when dealing with problem premises," said Inspector Paul Winter of Nottinghamshire police, who is responsible for licensing in the city. "All incidents that have taken place on licensed premises are recorded on Inn Keeper and the information is readily accessible across the force via an intranet.

"Under the New Licensing Legislation if a bar wishes to alter its operating schedule we can look at the number of incidents and visits made and decide whether or not to oppose the application. This will be particularly useful when we start receiving large numbers of applications under the new licensing legislation.

"Courts want to see clear evidence when considering whether to revoke a licence which is what we can provide through Inn Keeper - anecdotal evidence is no substitute for hard facts. Prior to having the database, it was much more difficult for us to produce the necessary evidence in good time when opposing an application."

Police in Nottingham estimate that as many as 110,000 people pour onto the city centre streets on weekend nights. By 2am there can be up to 40,000 hanging around and this is when the worst violence usually occurs.

The Nottinghamshire force has used data from Inn Keeper to show that 10 premises are responsible for 40% of violent incidents in the city centre.

"Each month we draw up a league table of the worst premises using information from the database," said Insp Winter. "Licensees are confronted with the evidence and this usually galvanises them into action because no-one wants to be at the top of the list.

"But the emphasis is on working with licensees to reduce the number of incidents and the demands placed upon us, rather than naming and shaming them. Details of any agreements made with licensees or plans of action, such as altering admissions policy, are recorded on the database so that progress can be monitored effectively. In some cases, however, licensees will be issued with written warnings if we don't see any improvements.

"Inn Keeper provides us with a cost-effective way of dealing with alcohol related violence because it's much better to solve the problem at source, rather than putting more and more police on the streets. It also allows our licensing officers to focus their energies more effectively - they can see if their visits to premises have been worthwhile.

"Without this database, the situation in Nottingham could be considerably worse than it is."

While alcohol-related violence and disorder has increased nationally over the past three years, the figures have remained static in Nottingham despite an increase in the number of licensed premises in the city centre.

The Inn Keeper system, which has been developed by Bristol-based WPC Software, has been updated to comply with changes to the licensing laws in England and Wales, which will see responsibility for licensing move from magistrates to local authorities.

Among the provisions in the updated Licensing Act 2003 is a plan to combine alcohol and entertainment licences into one single licence. Users of Inn Keeper will be able to input details under the new licensing regime, such as information about alcohol and non-alcohol operating hours, and details about premises, including fire exits and capacity.

They can continue recording information under the existing regime during the transitional period which starts on February 7 next year, when licensing authorities can begin processing applications under the new Act.

The Inn Keeper system is also being updated to add wireless functionality. This means that officers on patrol will be able to use mobile devices to check whether a particular premises is adhering to its license conditions. This can be done in real time without the need to fill in paperwork or make calls to the command and control centre.