Pub and bar owners are being urged to join forces in a bid to create a united front among Bradford licensees.

The call came from Dean Loynes after he was elected chairman of the Bradford Inner City Licensees' Association.

BICLA was set up in 1987 and has set up various schemes including a doorstaff training and registration scheme, bar staff training, bans and exclusion orders and proof of age cards.

But Mr Loynes, who is the licensee of the Boilerhouse club, said the association only had 50 members out of more than 200 licensed premises in the city centre.

He said the association has drawn up a list of new objectives which included increasing membership to give it more bite.

The move also comes after police warned that Bradford's booming pub and club scene was turning city centre weekends into drunken fight nights.

Chief Inspector Ray Shepherd, of Bradford South police, told the Police Community Forum that rocketing numbers of pubs and clubs - especially in the West End - had led to more closing time confrontations.

Mr Loynes said: "Ideally, we want every licensee in Bradford to be a member of BICLA. The more members we have the stronger we are to represent the views of the city's licensees.

"I'd like to see the creation of a national certificate that anyone who wants to be a licensee has to take before they can come into the profession.

"We'd also like to see mandatory membership of BICLA as a condition of the liquor licence."

Sergeant Chris Plowman, of Bradford North Crime Reduction Team, said: "We are trying to encourage registration and have everybody being responsible for the city centre.

"A great example of this is the West End. They all close together if they've got a problem."

Amanda Rea, licensee of the Flares 70s Revival Bar, formerly the Fates and Firkin in Ivegate, is a BICLA member.

She said: "I joined BICLA so I would know what the Council and the police are doing with regards to licensing matters. It gives me a louder voice if I come up against any problems and I feel that I'm not alone."

Ring BICLA on (01274) 741707 or visit www.bicla.bradford.co.uk