A Bill aiming to relax licensing laws is making its way through Parliament but not everyone in Sussex is raising a glass in celebration.

Roger Rolfe has spent more than 30 years by the Sussex seafront.

As a pioneer of urban renaissance, he lives in the heart of Brighton and Hove, walks to work, uses public transport, does not own a car and uses local services.

Many would consider him a model citizen but now, after years of aggravation caused by the city's emergence as a party capital, he fears for his place in a future city when time is never called.

Clubs and pubs help boost the city's coffers but Mr Rolfe, who lives just off Pavilion Parade in Brighton, and many others are all too aware of the negatives associated with the late-night drinking culture.

He said: "We will become the next Ibiza or worse. For a city of only 260,000 plus, we now have a disproportionate number of nightclubs, which has burgeoned to 70 in recent years."

Life for Mr Rolfe and many of his neighbours has changed dramatically since the development of the club culture. He can no longer sleep with windows open on a summer night and a noise diary he has kept since August 19 last year shows he has been kept awake by drunks for 40 nights, often until 3am.

Mr Rolfe said he was not completely against a change in the licensing laws but feared bars and clubs would open for as long as they liked with little restriction.

Mr Rolfe, a member of the Kingscliffe Society in Kemp Town, is also a member of the alcohol working group, set up by the Civic Trust and the Institute of Alcohol Studies.

The Civic Trust has members from towns and cities all over England and Wales, all of whom are making representations to the Government over the introduction of the new Bill.

The Government believes staggered closing hours would rid Britain of the lager lout image it has in Europe, often blamed on pubs and clubs chucking out at the same time as well as binge drinking before closing time.

But Mr Rolfe believes the British drinker uses alcohol in a completely different way from people in mainland Europe.

He said: "On the mainland, say in Barcelona, there is an evening economy of shopping, entertainment and catering, which has a mixed social/age group clientele and can include a quiet late-night drink.

"In Brighton, the centre is dominated by an under-30, aggressive drinking, monoculture, which precludes other age groups from entering, or wanting to be in the city centre."

The new licensing laws would make Brighton and Hove City Council the administrator of licences but it would not have any powers to make conditions or restrictions on the number of bars and pubs allowed to open in a particular area.

On the mainland, there are strict conditions.

In Amsterdam, bars and clubs can only open later at weekends and there is a cooling-off hour in late-night premises, during which only soft drinks are available.

In Paris, the licensing code states new licences will not be granted to a venue within 75m of another licensed venue. There is also a grant programme to subsidise enhancements to residents' homes, such as sound-proofing.

In Berlin, there are quotas to restrict the number of licensed venues in a borough and higher fines for noise pollution during designated quiet times.

Members of the Kingscliffe Society, including Dr Janie Thomas, believe the British drinking culture is the main reason why the relaxation of drinking laws will have more drawbacks than benefits.

Along with other society members, she accepts the laws need to be revised but is encouraging people to write to the city's MPs, asking for amendments to give the city council some control over conditions of the licences.

The Civic Trust report into the Bill says the main problem is saturation, with an over-concentration of premises in one locality and says: "It is essential local authorities be allowed to formulate licensing policies which can respond to local conditions."

A spokesman for Brighton and Hove City Council said it was not opposed to the change in laws but had expressed some concerns about urban renaissance and anti-social behaviour, although many were about finding the funding to set up a licensing unit.

Senior officers from Sussex Police have not yet made any stand on the relaxation of laws but the Association of Chief Police Officers is in favour of a 24-hour law.

A spokesman for the organisation said: "From our perspective the problem with current closing times is that everyone is spilling out at the same time in the same state.

"If this new law is used sensibly it could prevent that and people would stagger their drinking."

But Mr Rolfe disagrees. He believes people would start drinking later and be in the same drunken state but at a later time in the evening or early hours.

He warned people in the suburbs would not escape the impact the new laws.

While many pubs in residential areas close at 11pm, they too could remain open whenever they want, meaning city centre culture could be coming to a road near you.