SIR – As someone who used to shop regularly in Bradford city centre because their was a handy stop for the Wool Exchange on the No 670 Leeds/Bradford bus route near my home, I was shocked to read in the T&A of problems caused by daytime ‘drunks’ to local businesses etc (T&A, July 28).

But I am afraid that a major contributory factor to this anti-social behaviour has to be the all too easy 24-hour availability of alcoholic drinks and the huge number of outlets selling the stuff, with licences for off sales handed out like confetti by every local authority. Even some petrol stations are selling it 24/7!

On top of this the ‘aggressive’ marketing of alcohol by supermarkets doesn’t help, and the mass advertising of alcohol as the only way to celebrate everything from Mother’s Day to Easter.

As ever, though, the main culprit for this decline in behaviour was New Labour, who introduced 24-hour drinking and the resulting mayhem on our streets and in our city centres, like Bradford.

When I was 18 – ie, old enough to drink legally – Leeds pubs shut at 10pm with others in wider West Yorkshire area closing at 10.30pm. They also closed for at least two hours in the afternoon.

Those restricted hours dated from the First World War when the new-found wealth of munitions workers resulted in excessive drinking. But looking at today’s deplorable situation and implications for public order, as well as the strain on the NHS, maybe we are overdue for a rethink, as has happened with tobacco.

D S Boyes, Upper Rodley Lane, Leeds