Culture secretary Andy Burnham has said the first official review of 24-hour licensing laws showed it was achieving "mixed" results.

In a written statement to the Commons on Tuesday, Burnham confirmed that the government would not scrap laws which have been criticised for fuelling a rise in binge drinking and anti-social behaviour.

Instead, tougher enforcement was needed to make sure people enjoy late licenses without increasing violence, Burnham said.

He described alcohol-fuelled crime in the early hours of the morning as "unacceptable", and set out measures designed to cut disorder and reinforce the Licensing Act.

The government is to rank areas based on the risk their bars and off-licences pose to "crime, disorder, public nuisance and children".

Police and local authorities will then be able to use this information to identify "hotspots" where licences can be withdrawn "wholesale".

As signalled by the prime minister earlier in the week, a series of yellow and red cards will be introduced for premises which breach their licensing conditions.

Current rules which mean businesses lose their licence if they sell drink to under-age customers three times will be tightened to a "two strikes" system.

And the maximum fine for failing to obey a police instruction to stop drinking will rise from £500 to £2,500.

Mixed picture

Burnham said the impact of the Licensing Act had not been "consistent" across the country.

"Whilst crimes involving violence may have reduced over the evening and night-time period, the evidence also points to increases in offences, including violent crimes, reported between 3am and 6am," he said.

He added: "Similarly, whilst there is no clear picture of whether alcohol-related admissions have risen, some hospitals have seen a fall in demand, others have reported an increase.

"It is also clear that the overall reduction in alcohol-related disorder we wanted to see across the country has not materialised consistently in all areas."

Prime minister Gordon Brown announced he would look again at the licensing laws in July last year, soon after entering Downing Street.

Licensing minister Gerry Sutcliffe earlier acknowledged that the law needed "re-balancing" but insisted the government was committed to tackling the problems of binge drinking.

"We are not complacent. We know that we need to re-balance the act in favour of better enforcement," he told the BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

'Dithered'

Shadow home secretary David Davis said: "When Gordon Brown became prime minister he talked tough, especially about dealing with the consequences of 24-hour drinking.

"However, in characteristic form, he has dithered and the outcome of this review shows he is in denial about the consequences of his government's drinking policy.

"The damning evidence against the government's 24-hour drinking policy is overwhelming and comes from all sides: from the police, local authorities, statistics on hospital admissions and the Home Office itself."

Also on Tuesday, Labour's Helen Jones held a Westminster Hall debate on the government's policy on alcohol-related crime and anti-social behaviour.