BOLTON has become the first town or city in Britain to appoint a nighttime manager.

Laura Miseo will be working with licensees in the town to combat crime and disorder linked with alcohol.

Her brief also will be to develop the booming evening economy of the town centre while at the same time making it safer for visitors.

She was appointed by the Bolton Townsafe Partnership Group which is made up of various organisations working together to reduce anti-social behaviour and the fear of crime and to improve the image of Bolton centre.

Originally from Rochdale, Laura, who is 26, moved to Bolton at the age of 14 to take up a Saturday job in a restaurant.

Since then she has been with various companies, working her way up from trainee manager to her most recent role as an assistant manager at The Pack Horse, JJ Hotel.

She believes first-hand experience of running licensed premises will stand her in good stead in her new role.

One of her first tasks will be to gain financial support from the licensees for measures aimed at reducing alcohol related incidents, including the funding of evening wardens and security awareness training.

Laura starts her new job next Monday.

She said: "I'm really looking forward to my new role. Having run a pub I understand the challenges licensees face with alcohol related anti-social behaviour. I hope this experience will help me develop initiatives that will suit their needs as well as those of all the agencies involved in the Partnership.

"I aim to make Bolton town centre a safer and more attractive place for a night out."

Bolton Chief Inspector Patrick McKelvey, one of the co-ordinators of the Bolton Townsafe Partnership Group said: "This initiative is the first in the country and I believe it has great potential in developing the 24/7 economy of Bolton town centre.

"Laura's experience will help us work more closely with licensees to jointly tackle alcohol related disorder."

"To date we have run a number of initiatives to tackle this issue.

"Laura's new role will take us to the next stage, building on this success and forging new partnerships with licensees to run further schemes in the area."