A joint initiative to bolster public safety in Edinburgh's city centre over the busy festive season has been hailed as a success.

The City of Edinburgh Council and Lothian and Borders Police judged that the Safer City Centre Winter Initiative had comfortably achieved its main aims; namely, enhancing the public's sense of safety through a highly visible presence, combating and reducing alcohol-related and youth violence and disorder and helping people get home safely after a night out.

The Council's Community Safety staff and Licensing Standards Officers worked in close partnership with the Police to carry out a range of operations over the Christmas period.

These operations netted 191 litres of alcohol, six people were found to be in possession of drugs and 90 youths were stopped. Weapons searches were carried out on all four weekends, but no individual was found to be in possession of a weapon. High visibility and plain-clothed patrols at the Winter Wonderland attraction and in the city centre were supplemented by Community Safety staff and extended CCTV coverage from the mobile unit, with footage used to direct police officers on the ground to incidents and for court productions on arrest.

Bus passengers and drivers also hailed the success of Operation Abseil, in which Police and LRT Route Managers undertook gateway checks on buses entering the city centre at main arterial routes (eg Elm Row and St Patrick's Square) to monitor youth disorder and identify youths carrying alcohol.

Licensing Standards Officers' visits to clubs and off sales premises were well received by traders and licensees, with one premises being investigated by Lothian and Borders Police for selling alcohol to a 16-year-old and one individual charged for buying alcohol for a group of 15-year-olds. The LSOs' vigilance also resulted in the interception of an unlicensed hot food vendor and the seizure of a large quantity of potentially harmful burgers and sausages.

Overall, it was judged that the excellent partnership working had resulted in a noticeable and positive difference in the conduct of people within the city centre.

Councillor Sheila Gilmore, Executive Member for Community Safety and Housing, said: "It was particularly important to be able to put in this additional and targeted resource at this time of year when there was so much going on in the city centre. We wanted people to enjoy themselves in safety. But it doesn't all stop now because the holiday season is over, and the partnership working with the police, the additional 18 Council-funded police officers, the CCTV units and our Licensing Standards officers are still working hard to keep the city centre a safe place."

Chief Inspector Willie Wills, of Lothian and Borders Police, said: "We are delighted with how successful our joint initiative with the Council has been. Our main aim was to ensure that revellers in the city centre could enjoy the festive season without fear of abuse or antisocial behaviour. I think the results speak for themselves and the initiative has been a fine example of partnership working."