Surrey Police is urging revellers not to be the liability when enjoying nights out as part of Christmas and new year celebrations across the county in the coming weeks.

Operation Yuletide, launched on Friday, December 21, aims to tackle the traditional rise in town centre violence and anti-social behaviour during December through additional high-visibility patrols in a number of towns over the weekends leading up to Christmas and new year.

Surrey Police is, as always, urging people to act responsibly as the festive party season gets into full swing.

The campaign will run until January 2 and will also see alcohol enforcement team (AET) officers visiting licensed premises to ensure venues are operating responsibly and within the law.

Officers on patrol in towns including Guildford, Camberley, Woking, Staines, Reigate and Epsom will be promoting the simple ‘Don’t be the liability’ message, which encourages party goers to enjoy themselves but not to ruin their night or those of the people they are with by taking the celebrations too far.

Those who do go over the top during the festive celebrations will also risk coming to the attention of police and risk being arrested and ending their night in custody.

As part of the campaign ‘Don’t be the liability’ posters have been put up in town centres and information and advice cards have been distributed to licensed premises in the county.

One of the posters being issued by Surrey Police this festive season.

Surrey Police will also be actively engaging with members of the public heading on nights out through social media channels such as Twitter and Facebook.

Superintendent Matthew Bristow, who is leading Op Yuletide, said: “We want people to have fun and enjoy the festivities at this special time of the year but we also want to make sure people on nights out don’t become a problem for their friends or come to the attention of my officers.

“Our research shows that over the last three years around 90% of those arrested for offences over the Christmas and new year periods had not previously committed an offence in Surrey.

“This would suggest that some people believe getting drunk and acting irresponsibly is more acceptable at this time of year but that is simply not the case.

“We want to send out the clear message that while we encourage people to have a good time, alcohol fuelled antisocial behaviour, violence and disorder will not be tolerated. There will be a large number of extra officers out patrolling the streets of Surrey in the coming weeks specifically to deal with that minority of people who take things too far. Don’t be one of them.”