Prague to ban organised night-time pub crawls

Prague is to ban night-time pub crawls organised by travel agencies, in a bid to deter rowdy tourists from visiting and attracting more "refined" visitors instead.

The Czech capital's authorities say organised pub crawls - often aimed at foreign stag and hen dos - will be banned between 22:00 and 06:00 local time (21:00-05:00 BST).

Deputy mayor Jiri Pospisil said he wanted the city to become a place where "refinement and respect for shared public space are a priority".

Prague is not alone in its bid to deter rowdy tourists - many from the UK. Last year, Amsterdam launched a campaign to discourage young British men from travelling to the Dutch capital to use drugs and drink heavily.

The Prague City Council said councillors had approved an amendment limiting "organised movements of tourists from pub to pub, disrupting the night peace especially in the centre".

The change was made on noise, safety and cleanliness grounds. Crowds of drunk tourists also negatively affect the reputation of the city, councillors claimed.

Officials in the central Prague One district, most of which is a Unesco World Heritage Site and where many bars are located, welcomed the move.

Prague One mayor Terezie Radomerska said it was a "welcome change" which would "reduce the negative effects caused by excessive noise in the streets".

Police will be charged with enforcing the ban.

Councillors said disorderly behaviour had led to "an excessive deployment" of cleaning and police services, stretching the city's resources.

Prague resident Stepan Kuchta told the Times newspaper his health had been "ruined by chronic noise".

But Prague Pub Crawl, which organises the drunken excursions, panned the city's decision as "merely a populist move to cover up the city management's inability to address real issues, such as the lack of municipal police officers to enforce night-time peace".

The city of 1.3 million welcomed around 7.4 million tourists last year, according to the Czech Statistical Office.

Historically, many tourists have been enticed by the Czech capital's beautiful historic features and cheap beers - which in some restaurants and pubs can be cheaper than bottled water.

Vaclav Starek of the Czech Association of Hotels and Restaurants welcomed the city council's decision. Mr Starek told the AFP news agency that he didn't think business would be affected.

"I don't think this will hurt our sales. Nobody will be banned from going to a pub but these nightly organised pub crawls ... are nothing we would need."