Birmingham Broad Street is saturated'

Birmingham has become the latest city to declare a "saturation zone" in a bid to block new pub applications.

The city's famous Broad Street, dubbed the "Golden Mile," is likely to become a no-go area for new licence applications next year.

Birmingham City Council believes the area is already over-pubbed and blighted with problems from drunken revellers.

Birmingham is following the lead of other cities such as Westminster, Newcastle and Oxford, which have already opted for saturation measures.

It follows moves by police to persuade Broad Street licensees to adopt a voluntary code of practice on drink promotions to cut down disorder problems.

The Broad Street area became one of the first of the new-style drinking circuits that began springing up across UK town and city centres during the early 1990s.

However, the British Beer & Pub Association (BBPA) has warned that a saturation policy does not give the council carte blanche to block every new licence application.

Midlands BBPA secretary Richard Matthews said: "Objections to new licence applications still have to be evidence-based.

"Councils will have to play to the rules and despite declaring a saturation policy, will need to follow the directions laid down in the new Licensing Act and put up a strong case for refusing individual applications."