Police call-outs to city nightclubs have fallen dramatically in the last five years, new figures reveal.

Officers responded to 109 reported incidents at Canterbury's nightspots last year - down two-thirds from 323 in 2012.

Club owners credit improvements to the running of premises, while security staff say they now take a greater responsibility and require less police help.

Chemistry, Canterbury’s largest club, saw the number of call-outs to the Station Road East venue plummet 60% from 100 to 40.

Owner Louise Jones attributes this to changes made to its entry policy.

“We’ve been working on a process of making sure we know when a person comes through the door if they’re suitable for the premises,” she said.

“If anybody’s a little bit dismissive, rude or has a lack of eye contact with the staff, then they’re probably not going to be good with customers inside.

“We’ve got ID scanners, which I think make a huge difference because they create a deterrent.

"They mean that if crimes are offended it’s easy for us to find and identify the perpetrator.”

Mrs Jones also runs Tokyo Tea Rooms in St George's Place, which previously operated as both Chill and Steinbeck and Shaw.

Between 2012 and 2017, under different ownership, call-outs dropped from 48 to 14.

Just one other city club, The Cuban in the High Street, recorded double-figure incidents in 2017, but its total of 42 was fewer than half the number five years before.

Ms Jones believes the improvement is linked to Canterbury being given Purple Flag status in 2011 - an award handed to towns and cities adjudged to have a vibrant and safe nightlife.

“It has meant all the agencies – like the police, Canterbury City Council, Pubwatch and the fire service – talk to each other over a radio,” said Ms Jones, who is also a Conservative city councillor.

“So if somebody, for instance, has a fight outside the Cuban, the club will radio other venues with the description and then, automatically, nobody else lets them in.”

Ms Jones added that lists of banned clubbers are shared between venues who, in turn, designate someone to see their images and pass on descriptions to the rest of the staff.

Call-outs to student nightclub The Venue fell 71% over the same five-year period, with just eight reported incidents in 2017.

Nav Singh, who ran the nightspot between 2014 and earlier this year, said: “One of the changes I’ve seen is students now tend to drink more responsibly.

"Also, what we did is we introduced a barring tracker.

"We update it each week with information on where and when incidents happened in the club.

"That allows us to monitor where we need to put our resources.

"It allows us to tackle issues before they get bigger.

"For example, if we found the majority of our drug-related barrings were on a Saturday we’d then increase our searches each Saturday.

“We’ve got zero tolerance towards any form of drug use. If someone is found with a pouch that we suspect had carried drugs we will issue them with an indefinite barring.

“We definitely would call the police if we needed them.

"We made the switch to Akon Security in 2013, and it is so helpful. It enforces policy the way we ask it to.

“We are constantly taking steps to make sure Venue is the safest nightclub in Canterbury."

The Venue has been running the Ask for Angela programme, which allows people who are being harassed to approach bar staff or a member of security to be placed in a secure environment.

And anti-spiking kits are available behind the bar to anyone who suspects their drink's been tampered with.

Nav says the different policies introduced has meant it no longer needs to call the police as often.

Oli Nonis, the boss of Akon Security, believes the fall in police call-outs is a sign door staff now deal with a higher number of incidents themselves.

"So if somebody, for instance, has a fight outside the Cuban, the club will radio other venues with the description and then, automatically, nobody else lets them in" - Louise Jones

He says this is because they are aware police resources are stretched and, as a result, they “don’t want to inconvenience them”.

“We’re not involving the police unless we have to,” he said.

“We know the drain there’s been on their resources and if we can resolve a situation without having to call them then that’s obviously the best route for everyone.

“When I first started doing this in 2004 if something happened you’d get straight on the phone to police, but a lot of the time it wasn’t required.

“We’ve streamlined that and worked out when is the best time to call them.”

Akon Security provides doormen to the Cuban, Venue, Pound, Ballroom, Loft, Penny Theatre, Lady Luck and Bramley’s.

Mr Nonis thinks club-goers’ behaviour “has become worse” in recent years.

“People don’t really have any respect for us or the police and when they are doing things wrong they will try to say it’s someone else’s fault,” he said.

“I believe people’s behaviour has become worse – this is why I’m kind of surprised call-outs are that much lower.”