Although a war is being waged on binge drinking in Swindon, alcohol is still flowing cheaply in pubs in the town centre as Emma-Kate Lidbury discovered

AFTER years spent as a skint student with only a few pounds to my name, I learnt to sniff out the best deals behind the bar.

So it's not surprising to see pubs with bargain bar promotions brimming with revellers keen to get the most for their money.

Queues of thirsty drinkers stand four deep at bars throughout the town centre waiting to get served their pint for a £1 or their vodka and coke for 99p.

In the Fleet Street/Bridge Street area, which has been labelled an over-30s no-go zone by council licensing officer Lionel Starling, drinks promotions are splashed across most pub windows beckoning people in.

Drinkers vote with their feet and Wetherspoon's pubs, the biggest culprit for cut-price deals, are always awash with people taking advantage of the best offers.

In Fleet Street, Wetherspoon's Groves Company Inn sells vodka and coke for just 99p, or £1.99 for a double. The cheapest pint is £1.49.

A bottle of Holsten Pils will also set you back £1.49. Alcopops Smirnoff Ice and WKD are the same price.

A standard size glass of house white wine costs £1.85, while a jug of any cocktail containing four spirits and fruit juice costs £3.95.

The Bedroom pub in Bridge Street was packed, mainly with drinkers aged from 18 to about 25.

I would describe it as a "no frills" watering hole, where people know what they want and get it.

It is also vying for competition and prices its drinks on Wednesday and Thursday nights at special rates. I had a bottle of Stella Artois, a strong lager which is usually one of the higher priced tipples. But it only set me back £1.50.

A bottle of Smirnoff Ice or WKD costs £1.85.

The cheapest pint costs £1 and a single vodka and coke costs £1.30. A regular glass of house white wine costs £1.85 and cocktails are priced at two for £5 on Thursday evenings.

The Broadwalk bar, in Bridge Street, prices its drinks more responsibly, asking £2.50 for bottles of alcopops and lagers.

There's more of a clubby feel to the place, with slightly older punters and a dancefloor.

Its spirits and wines are also more expensive, with a glass of regular house white wine costing £2.50 and a vodka and mixer costing £2.75. It does not serve jugs of cocktails.

At the Litten Tree, in Fleet Street, there were a lot of men aged in their 20s and early 30s. The pub, which has big TV screens and a dancefloor, charges has alcopops at £2.95 a bottle. The cheapest bottle of lager is £2.25 and a pint is £2.15.

A single measure spirit and mixer is £2.49, but they do vodka and Red Bull at £3.49 for a double.

Wine costs £2.45 for a regular glass of house white and two-pint jugs of cocktails are £7.95.

One drinker, Andy Price, 26, of Abbey Meads, said most people in town usually start their evenings at a place they know has cheap drinks.

"You get good deals in places like Wetherspoon's so that's where people tend to go," he said.

"I suppose cut-price drinks do make people drink more. I know I'm guilty of that."

Wendy Hammond, 29, of Rodbourne, who was out for an evening with a group of girlfriends, said: "When we're up for a night out we head to the places where we know we can get drinks for a £1 or as near to that as possible."

As the evening drew to a close it was easy to spot the drinkers staggering home who had enjoyed the bargains earlier on but would pay the price in the morning.