THE borough's leaders reacted angrily to reports last week which highlighted Richmond and Twickenham as areas suffering from the binge drinking' culture.

The reports followed the launch of a government strategy to curb the problem of drink-related anti-social behaviour. One paper even reported the Met Police deputy commissioner as saying Richmond was becoming a no-go' area.

Landlords, the council leader and the police all urged that the issue be put into context, saying that Richmond was being used as a scapegoat, and the borough is still the safest in London.

So are the borough's town centres descending into drink-induced mayhem, or have the reports blown the whole issue out of all proportion?

Times reporter Sarah Bell took to the streets of Richmond to see what residents think.

Monty Skinner of Sheen Road said he preferred to drink in his quiet local but said that it wasn't a new issue. "It has been going on for years. A lot of residents don't come down into the town centre on Friday and Saturday nights, especially around the pubs like The Lot, Edwards, they are full of nutters," he said. He added that there was also a problem with youths causing damage on their way home.

Alison Cole-Stutz said she didn't think there was a particular problem: "Richmond feels like a very safe place. We don't tend to go into the town on weekend evenings but not because we think there is any trouble."

Robert Dawson from Kew agreed that the reports were exaggerated. Has he seen much trouble? "Not really, although it is worse than it used to be. I think it is just the media, I haven't seen any trouble."

"At night I tend to drive through the town centre rather than walk on weekend nights, as it can be threatening for an older person. It is just people being overly boisterous but I don't think it should be allowed to escalate," said Christine Smith of Alton Road. She added that she didn't like the age discrimination and pointed out that in town centres in Spain you see whole families out together in the evenings.

David Bennett of Princes Road said that he and his wife tend to stay away from the town centre on Friday and Saturday nights, but this was not due to a perceived threat of trouble. "It's not that I'm afraid of being beaten up, more that it is full of young girls and guys and it is impossible to get into the bars. But I think it is a better area than most and I know a lot of places which are worse."