Extended licensing hours have made "no impact whatsoever" on alcohol-fuelled violence, according to a report on Tuesday.

New laws introduced in November 2005 removed fixed closing times in pubs and bars in an attempt to avoid flare-ups at closing time and promote a "Continental-style" cafe culture.

But the report by the Local Government Association (LGA) said about seven out of 10 police authorities, primary care trusts and councils reported an increase or no change in drink-fuelled violence or late night violence.

"The new drinks laws have made no impact whatsoever on reducing the alcohol-related violence that blights town centres and turns them into no-go areas," Sir Simon Milton, chairman of the LGA, said in a statement.

"It seems we have a deep-rooted social and cultural problem in this country in the way that we view alcohol that cannot be addressed by one simple piece of legislation," Milton added.

The LGA study also found that council taxpayers are paying 100 million pounds for the new laws.

"It is totally unacceptable that the hard-pressed council taxpayer should be forced to pick up the bill for something that the government said would not cost them a penny," Milton said.

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) said serious violent crime at night, a high proportion of which is alcohol-related, is down 5 percent, while 2006 data showed a fall in alcohol consumption of 3.3 percent.

"The government has never said that the Licensing Act alone would tackle the deep seated problems of alcohol related crime and disorder," a spokeswoman at the DCMS said.