COLCHESTER’S nightlife has once again been awarded a Purple Flag for being safe and attractive to revellers.

The flag - similar to the Blue Flag for top beaches - is given out to towns and cities which are safe, clean and appealing to visitors between 6pm and 5am.

Colchester was awarded its first Purple Flag last year and assessors have re-awarded the town for offering a “wide choice of activities” and showing a “spirit of change”.

Councillor Tim Young, portfolio holder for Community Safety, Licensing and Culture, said: "I am delighted that the Association of Town and City Management have awarded Colchester Purple Flag status again.

“The evening and night-time economy is very important to Colchester.

“Purple Flag is an endorsement that our town centre is an attractive, vibrant, well-managed and clean place to visit.

“This award is a worthy recognition of the highly effective partnership work taking place daily between Essex Police, the SOS Bus, the Royal Military Police, Pubwatch, Essex County Fire and Rescue Service, all the town centre leisure, cultural and transport organisations, the Street Pastor team, the NHS as well as Colchester Borough Council’s CCTV, street cleaning and Licensing teams.”

He added: "The night time economy is an important contributor to the borough, offering local people and visitors a great choice of places to stay, eat, drink, listen to music, watch performances or simply just socialise and relax.”

Craig Gill, manager of Missoula in Head Street, claims trouble has dropped in the town thanks to more cohesion between police, licensing officers and venues.

He said: “A lot of licensees have been in their venues a long time and have gone through that first transition stage to know what’s expected.

“We liaise with the police and licensing and all know what to do.

“It’s a great thing and the night life is picking up in the town.”

He added: “We go out of our way to make sure people enjoy their night out and if there are any incidents, we respond as fast as we can to make sure it’s dealt with.

“All the components are there in town to make it safe and the level of trouble has dropped as a result.”

Nick Jackson, general manager of Liquid in High Street, said:“Our main priority is to ensure that our customers have a safe and fun night out and we take our responsibilities extremely seriously.

"Since moving to the town last year, I have been extremely impressed with the strong co-operation between late night operators, the regional marketing partnerships, Essex Police and our street pastors, which is essential for a safe and vibrant late night economy.”

Ash Afzalnia, chief executive of the Elysium Group which runs the Qube and Hudson bar in the town centre, said: “The attainment of the purple flag in Colchester for the second year running exhibits the productive working relationship between the licensed premises and responsible and supporting authorities whose combined and continued hard work to make Colchester a safer town has been recognised by this award.

"The award accentuates how safe Colchester’s vibrant night time economy is which is a welcome boost for the town as a whole and reinforces Colchester’s appeal to both residents and visitors alike."

Purple Flag's independent assessors said: “Colchester clearly has a wide choice of activities on offer.

“There is a spirit of change in Colchester and a drive to place Colchester as key destination in the eastern region and to improve Colchester's competitiveness.”

Since 2007, Purple Flags have been awarded to more than 65 towns and cities, and all reported a consistent increase in footfall and a decrease in crime in the evening and at night.