Liquor vendors are to be asked to stop selling single beers and spirit miniatures in a bid to crack down on vagrants drinking on Hamilton's streets.

However, alcohol retailers yesterday questioned whether the Corporation of Hamilton idea would work and asked why the Police aren't doing more to tackle the problem.

The Corporation resolved last month to write to the Liquor Licensing Authority and the Police to explain the measure it hopes to put in place, as well as writing to the vendors.

The letters are due to go out next week. Although the stores are entitled to sell singles if they wish, drinking on the streets remains against the law.

A Corporation spokeswoman said: "We get bombarded by complaints from the public because the vagrants have open bottles. We're writing to the liquor stores in the hope that they might be able to help, but it's at their discretion. While it is their trade and business, we hope that people do take this (problem) into account if you sell to these individuals when they've been at it all day.

"The complaints come in depending on how many (vagrants) are congregating in a given area. If you get six of them out there they get loud and obnoxious. Probably on a weekly basis we get a complaint from a member of the public even our own staff."

The spokeswoman said the Corporation had written to the Police and had "many meetings" with them, but street drinking remains a problem.

Richard Hartley, managing director of Burrows Lightbourn said: "At the end of the day, I don't know if it would do much good. If someone wants to buy a drink to drink right away and they can't get a miniature, they're going to get the next size up. If they can't get a single beer, they will get a six-pack and share it. We would co-operate with any sensible request if we thought it would help, but I'm not sure it would."

Although only the East Broadway Burrows Lightbourn store falls within the city limits, other stores buy stock from them wholesale.

A woman working at Carousel Liquors, who declined to give her name, said of the plan: "I think they're trying to put us out of business". She questioned why vendors should stop selling individual bottles when law-abiding customers sometimes prefer to buy them that way too.

"There's a law. Why don't they chase them away?" she said of the vagrants.