With Christmas nearly upon us, the thoughts of many of the borough's youth will turn to planning their New Year celebrations, with

many of them converging on the town centre to herald the start of 2002.

Many of the town centre's pubs will be staying open until 1am, and numerous night-clubs are offering revellers the chance to dance till as late as 4am.

Town centre operations manager Tony Hart said: "New Year in Croydon should be one of the busiest nights of the year. Many of the bars and night clubs have special events which should help make New Years Eve the biggest party night of the year."

In the absence of any central meeting point for the countdown, most of the bars, pubs and clubs are laying on their own celebrations inside the venues, so it is expected to be a fairly quiet on the streets at midnight.

But nevertheless, Croydon's police force will be out in force to ensure the celebrations do not get out of hand.

Chief Inspector Peter Cole of Croydon's operations unit said: "We have got additional resources on duty all over the festive period. Additional resources have been placed in the town centre during the day time to curb robbery, shop-lifting with a marked impact. But there will be additional night-time patrols."

There will be a considerable number of revellers spilling out onto the streets and looking for transport home when the pubs shut at 1am, and while extra buses and trams will be laid on, revellers are advised to book taxis early to avoid disappointment.

Chief Insp Cole added: "We will be maintaining a high profile presence to ensure that everyone has a happy and safe New Year."

Tony Hart added: "With many businesses closing throughout the Christmas period Yuletide and New Year celebrations will become combined ensuring that Croydon has a party atmosphere through till early January."

With that in mind shoppers are reminded that all the stores will be open on New Years Day from 1000-1700, so that those who aren't suffering the effects of the night before can seek out some bargains in the sales.

December 21, 2001 16:00