Tenby is traditionally a resort popular with families

But it is not so much bandits and bank robbers causing problem - but wild women and drunken men who were descending on the resort for weekend stag and hen parties.

But now with close co-operation between pubs and police, including using a walkie-talkie alert system, has meant that possible trouble in the Pembrokeshire resort can be nipped in the bud.

Peter Brown, licensee of the Prince of Wales pub in the town, said: "We can now send out an instant alert to all pubs, warning them about possible rowdy groups or individuals.

"It also means that we can get the police to the seat of the trouble almost instantly instead of around 20 minutes after trouble has broken out."

It was in 1999 when men's magazine Maxim named Tenby as the world's second best location for stag parties and busloads for 20-somethings of both sexes started to invade the town.

As a result the resort, traditionally favoured by families and surrounded by an imposing 13th century fortress wall, experienced up to a six-fold increase in population at the weekends.

Serious sexual attacks

The Teletext Holiday company in a recent survey estimated that up to �300m is spent per year on stag and hen parties in the UK.

Some events spread over a whole weekend with some participants spending up to �500 on eating, drinking and clubbing.

To pre-empt trouble Dyfed-Powys Police got together with local licensees and bus companies to set up an advance warning system to alert them to any stag and hen parties heading the Tenby way.

The idea was to make sure that groups making for the resort's pubs and clubs were aware that mayhem would not be tolerated and that there were acceptable standards of behaviour to be observed.

Last year police launched an ongoing investigation into a spate of serious sexual assaults in the town, mainly linked to alcohol consumed in large quantities by revellers bussed into Tenby for stag parties.

But there have also been problems with hen parties imposing an additional burdens on male police officers when they have to deal with groups of drunken young women, according to a police spokesman.

Stag party revellers can spend up to �500 each

Both the police and licensees want to see a balance with young holidaymakers enjoying themselves and the leisure trade in the town making a profit.

But they do not want to see this happening at the expense of the long-standing general tourist trade in the town, which goes back to the days of Queen Victoria.

Landlord Peter Brown said action taken by the Tenby Licensed Victuallers Association and the police has worked with the stag and hen party problem now much reduced.

"I think the fine weather this summer has also helped, with groups staying on the beaches longer instead of spending all the time boozing, " he said. "Trade has been really good."

Tenby has come out better than Blackpool, another traditional holiday spot, which has reported a 17% drop in bookings this summer, with the mid-week being particularly hard hit.

Some hoteliers there have blamed the weekend invasion of stag and hen parties putting the family holidaymakers off the resort, a problem which Tenby seems to have successfully tackled.