Dare you take the pay-day booze test? CITY CENTRE: Special police patrols to check on weekend binge drinking.

Byline: By Ben Griffin 

PEOPLE in clubs and pubs in Coventry might find their boozing interrupted tonight.

A special pay-day patrol will at nightspots in the city centre, asking people to take sobriety tests.

The tests are designed to show people how drinking can affect their judgement and behaviour.

Staff from the Coventry's Community Alcohol Services, which provides treatment for people with an alcohol problem, will be asking drinkers to take the tests tonight and tomorrow night.

The health workers will join police on the pay-day patrols which take place every month, as police say more people go out and drink more after getting paid.

And this weekend will see 20 more police officers and street wardens on hand to quell any booze-fuelled crime.

Police will also try to make sure that drunk people and the under-18s are not being served.

Supt Gordon Scobbie, of Little Park Street police, said: "The last weekend in the month, when many workers have just been paid, can see up to around 10,000 people out and about in the city centre.

"While Coventry has no greater night-time crime problem than other cities, we will be taking a tough line with anyone causing a drunken nuisance."

During previous pay day patrols police handed 13 pounds 80 on-the-spot fines to drunks who were misbehaving.

Supt Scobbie said many had been handed out early in the night to clip the wings of people who were in danger of losing control completely later in the evening.

A survey of about 60 people in Coventry city centre last weekend found 86 per cent said there had been an improvement in policing in the last six months.

And 78 per cent of those questioned said they felt safer in the city centre.

The straight and narrow way to stay sober

TENTATIVELY Raffaela Iantosca places one foot in front of the other and struggles to keep her balance.

The Evening Telegraph interrupted the 18-year-old's lunch break at The Varsity pub In Little Park Street to try out the sobriety test.

Raffaela, a first-year law student at Coventry University, managed the walk-and-turn test outside the pub quite easily. But she wasn't out on a bender or even tiddly, just enjoying a quiet lunchtime drink.

The test involved walking heel-to-toe in a straight line, before turning around and returning to the start.

Raffaela, who lives in Queens Road, Coventry city centre, thought the tests were a good idea to give people an idea of when they had had enough to drink.

Fellow law student Nina Mainy tried the finger-to-nose test, and again she managed the task quite easily. The 18-year-old who lives in Priory Row in the city centre also said the tests were a good thing.

She said: "It's a good way of making you realise how much everyone drinks and how bad it is for you.

"It's a bit daft, but it's quite fun as well."

HOW THE PAY-DAY TESTS WORK THE WALK AND TURN TEST

Take nine heel-to-toe steps along a line, turn, and along the line with nine more steps.

The test reflects ability to remember specific instructions as well as to balance and walk.

THE ONE LEG STAND

Stand with arms by your side and lift one leg about six inches off the ground while counting one thousand, two thousand, etc, until told to stop.

FINGER TO NOSE

Stand with eyes closed, head tipped back and hands extended. Touch the tip of your nose with your index finger alternately with both hands.

CAPTION(S):

ON THE LINE... Raffaela Iantosca (main picture) and Nina Mainy putting themselves through the sobriety challenge. Pictures: Michelle Sperry