One-way bar doors taming The Strip

A "one-way door" policy used at Christchurch bars over Easter has proven its worth in keeping the lid on drunken trouble, police say.

The policy meant those leaving city bars early yesterday and Saturday morning after 1am were not allowed to re-enter them. The extended Easter closing time was 3am.

Inspector Gary Knowles, head of policing in central Christchurch, said the idea was to combat the "migrating herd that seems to take great joy in going from bar to bar and getting trolleyed".

"We are trying to say to people: 'Let's get responsible with alcohol'."

At closing time over the weekend, most revellers seemed to head home and police encountered fewer heavily drunken people and less violence on the streets than expected for a long weekend, Mr Knowles said.

"We think it went well both nights. It is going to take a re-education in relation to what the public expects."

Antony Gough, a representative for many of the bars on Christchurch's "The Strip", said it was too early for bar owners to say how the one-way door policy would affect them financially.

"It's worth trying and seeing how it works," Mr Gough said. "As long as everyone is treated the same. Some places it wouldn't apply to [are those] that call themselves 'places of entertainment', where supposedly less than half their income comes from liquor sales and they have a door charge."

The biggest problem on the streets was 18 to 25-year-olds who got "totally blotto" before coming into the bars after midnight.

He said the one-way door policy could encourage them to come into town earlier and in a better state.