LICENSEES have got together to tackle pub trouble using an instant radio-link scheme to spread the word about bar-room brawlers.

Anyone behaving badly in any of the participating premises will find they are not only unwelcome in that pub.

The other 15 town centre licensees in the scheme will know who they are as soon as the first pub radios through their description.

The scheme could lead to trouble-makers being banned for months or even years from one or all of the premises involved.

The initiative has proved a success in Crewe where in three years there have only been around 100 bans, most of them short term.

The licensees all met for their first meeting to iron out any problems and discuss how to make the scheme most effective.

Macclesfield Division licensing enforcement officer Tina Robinson said: "The most important thing is that you communicate with each other. This is vital to make the scheme work - you've got to use the radios.

"And it's not just for fighting and rowdiness," she added. "Thefts from pubs are rife at the moment - handbags, mobile phones, coats. Use the radios for everything you can."

Malcolm Ashley of the Blueberry Inn on Park Lane said: "I don't think any one of us thinks it's a bad idea. It just takes communication."

The landlord of The Millstone said: "A lot of us have been here a few years and we know who the idiots are. If I throw anybody out they know about it."

Despite a few teething problems with the radios the scheme is up and running now.

David Healey from Abariginals is chairman of the committee who will meet every month from now on to discuss progress and possible bans.

Any town centre licensed premises who wish to join the scheme should ring licensing enforcement officer Tina Robinson of Macclesfield Police on 01244 613440.

Licensed premises involved in the scheme are: The Bull and Gate, Waters Green; The Old Millstone, Waters Green; The Nags Head, Waters Green; The Queen's Hotel; Yates' Wine Lodge, Park Green; Jar Bar, Park Green; The Society Rooms, Park Green; The Blueberry Inn, Park Lane; The White Lion, Mill Street; The Litten Tree, Mill Street; Abariginals, Pickford Street; Cuban Knights, Pickford Street; The Prince of Wales, Roe Street; Maxwells, King Edward Street.