There's never been a better time to go out on the town in Bradford. With its numerous pubs and clubs the city centre is fast becoming a magnet for Bradford's pleasure seekers. And with Home Secretary Jack Straw set to shake up the UK's licensing laws there could be even more time to party. To attract even more young people into the city centre Bradford Council's City Centre Management has produced a 'Cool Bradford' brochure. Reporter Charles Heslett asked those involved in the industry what they thought of the Council's latest initiative.

The West End of Bradford has been transformed from the building site it was a couple of years ago into the thriving night spot it is today.

More than £10 million has been spent on redeveloping the area behind the Alhambra Theatre transforming it into a street packed with bar after bar.

The Varsity bar, the Freestyle and Firkin pub and the Hogshead bar are just a few of the new names which help pull in thousands of people, young and old, every weekend.

Some might say these new clubs and pubs combined with many of the more established venues offer enough incentive for those looking for a good time to come and visit the city centre.

But to drive the message home Bradford City Centre Manager Elaine Frances and her team have put together a glossy at-a-glance guide to a night out in Bradford.

Over the coming weeks 15,000 of their eight-page guides will appear in the bars, pubs, clubs, and tourist information bureaux of Bradford and other parts of West Yorkshire.

As well as a brief description of each bar, pub or club, the guide has a map and list of addresses in the back showing where the venues can be found in the city.

Elaine Francis said: "The aim of the brochure is primarily to promote the West End of Bradford and the new clubs and pubs up there.

"It really marks the fact that there has been £10 million of investment in that area during the last few years, including the developments like the Varsity bar by developers Leeds and London Holdings.

"We want to attract more people into Bradford during the evenings, which the West End is being very successful at, and make sure those people don't go to Leeds or Halifax instead."

She said the brochure was particularly aimed at the 18 to 24-year-old age group and to get the message across that Bradford was an exciting place to go out in.

Bradford entrepreneur John Pennington owns and runs Penningtons, described in the booklet as the flagship of the city's night.

He said: "Anything that the Council does to promote night life in the city centre has got to be beneficial. And if it's of no cost to the outlets named in the brochure then even better.

"I've always maintained that we have enough licensed premises in Bradford's city centre, it just needs more people to come into town.

"The Bradford Inner City Licensee's Association was thinking of putting together this sort of thing but the Council have done a very good job.

"I think the brochure is very necessary. It is a shame though that it doesn't have any offers off drinks or promotions."

But David Haigh, chairman of BICLA, who runs Haigy's in Lumb Lane, criticised the Council for not consulting the association.

"The Council do these things and as usual they never consult anybody," he said. "It is a good thing and if the Council got involved with those working in the trade it could have been even better.

"BICLA is in the process of producing our own brochure which is very similar. Maybe we could have helped fund this one if we had been asked."

Elaine Frances said BICLA should have known about the brochure through their police contacts who were consulted.

Bradford Council's executive committee member for regeneration Councillor David Green said the trend of a mass exodus of young people from Bradford going out in places like Leeds was beginning to go in reverse and this guide would only be beneficial to the economy of the city.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.