Pubs and clubs in the London borough of Camden have been praised by a senior police officer for helping produce a major drop in violent crime.
Speaking at Wednesday night's Camden Best Bar None awards in Central London, Superintendent Martin Richards heaped praise on the borough's venues for making the borough safer.
"This is about people coming into Camden and knowing a venue has a good search policy and it's a safe venue," he said.
"Licensed premises are generally really well-run and violent crime is falling around them."
Last week it was announced that Best Bar None, which encourage pubs and bars to meet responsible retailing standards, is being taken onto a national stage by BII.
Supt Richards added that violent crime had fallen "a lot" in the borough last year and nine per cent since April.
One venue that was accredited by the scheme last year had seen 80 per cent less crime, he said.
Music festival the Camden Crawl was also described as a "fantastic success story" by Supt Richards, with no assaults in or directly outside premises.
Winners of Best Bar None awards were: the Penderels Oak (pub category); University of London Union (bar category) and The End (club category). Overall winner was the University of London Union.
Alex Massey and Sari Kiiskinen, managers of University of London Union, said: "We're in shock but so proud to be named winners. The thing that makes us even prouder is we have very little money to run the place but we still manage to get up to the same, if not better, standards as high street bars."