GANGS of drunken lads, screeching girls teetering on high heels, someone being sick, another urinating down an alleyway.

These unsightly images of a typical Saturday night out in Chester cause people of a more reserved disposition to avoid the city centre like the plague.

Now a pioneering night-time strategy is being developed aimed at promoting a more diverse range of activities in the city.

'The thrust behind what we are trying to do is to get people away from seeing Chester at night as a problem,' said Andy Farrall, Chester City Council's strategic director for development.

'That's the case for many places around the country. You see people drinking and falling over and that's the problem.'

He said there were three elements to the night time crowd - young people, older local residents and tourists.

The city centre is a particular focus for the younger element who see Chester at night as a place 'to come and enjoy themselves' and their fun often involves drink. The older element were more likely to be interested in a wider range of activities.

'Chester residents like to come and enjoy themselves, have a meal, see a play, go to the cinema,' said Mr Farrall.

'The task is to make Chester a more enjoyable, lively and colourful place at night with a strong evening economy and also to make it safe and tackle anti-social behaviour and community safety issues.'

To this end, Mr Farrall has written a draft document entitled Towards a Chester at Night Strategy, which is the first of its kind in the country, and open for discussion at the moment.

'We need to tackle the issues together. One of the problems is that Chester is known for one activity in the evening - drinking - whereas the city centre should be full of people going to restaurants, the theatre, the cinema and all these events.'

A key development which should help shift the nighttime agenda is the fact that 8,000 people will move into accommodation in or around the city centre over the next five or six years.

The hope is this will broaden the mix of people in the city centre, and that these urban dwellers will see the space as their community rather than a playground.

Among these people will be occupants of 120 homes included in the Northgate Development which also features a performing arts centre within a public square fronted by bars and restaurants.

The council would also like to promote the idea of shops and cafés opening later and discussions have already begun with the Chester Chamber of Trade.

Similarly, the council is asking itself the question as to whether its own facilities should open later into the evening along with libraries and other public amenities.

Mr Farrall says bars and clubs should also look at the way they operate to enhance the customers' experience.

'Are the door staff friendly, should they be friendlier?' he asked. And he has suggested the idea of 'chill out' times at the end of the night to allow revellers to wind down with food and nonalcoholic drinks, rather than being 'chucked out' soon after the bar shuts.

He's even thrown in the idea of a city centre-based dance venue without alcohol sales!

Getting home is a major issue in terms of ensuring the safety of revellers. Aside from the desire to get people out of the cold and into their beds, jostling in late-night taxi queues is a common cause of fights. Laying on night buses is one possible way forward.

Zoning areas is another way of designing-out the conflict which has historically arisen between revellers and residents.

Bars and night clubs could be contained within one 'cultural zone' separating it from residential areas.

Police, planning and licensing authorities can work together to make this vision a reality.

Another key issue is police resources. Insufficient numbers of bobbies on the beat is a constant complaint from retailers, publicans and restaurateurs.

One idea being mooted is to designate the city centre as a Business Improvement District under legislation currently being drawn up.

Businesses could vote to set up the district, giving the council the authority to raise extra funds on the business rate to pay for more police officers or crime-reduction measures such as CCTV.

If approved, the Chester at Night strategy will become enshrined in planning guidance and licensing policy and be adopted as the policy of participating agencies.