IT'S an argument that has not yet been versed in the great debate over longer drinking hours. But as the end of the 11pm era finally arrived the realisation dawned that pre-night out preparations were no longer up against a strict deadline. I luxuriated in the shower. Laboured over the hair tongs. Spent a little too long putting on the slap. Friends shouted up the stairs but the urgency was gone. There was more beer in the fridge. The pubs were open til 1am. Where was the hurry? Perhaps this is why French women look better groomed.

Down the pub at 9.30pm it seemed many people had enjoyed the same laid-back start to their Friday night.

"The amount of times you get so busy, look at your watch and it's not worth going out. Tonight I felt much more relaxed and there was still time to go out," enthused 39-year-old Melanie Woods over her Smirnoff Ice in the Hope and Anchor.

Like most of town centre pubs the H & A had gone for a 1am licence but they were taking a wait and see approach. If the customers were not in they planned to call time at midnight.

The atmosphere was laid back and the longer hours were universally toasted among the more mature crowd.

"It'll be calmer, there won't be that right you have to go home now thing' that fuels the violence," said 43-year-old Neil Harrison, a musician with plenty of experience of bar life.

"For a couple of weeks people will probably spend more and get more drunk and the Daily Mail will be saying told you so'. But after a while people will realise their pay packets can't cover it and will calm down."

But in Ulverston the thrill of the late bar seemed to be having little immediate impact. There was no vomit flowing in the streets to put the town on anyone's front page. And there were none of the brawling crowds of boozed-up teenagers predicted by the detractors of the licensing revolution.

As midnight approached over at the Piel Castle, the younger crowd were actually to be found having what appeared to be a very civilised drink.

Ibiza holiday rep Rob Mitten, 20, was delighted to take his time over his white wine.

"To be honest, it's made it a more social evening. We had a late dinner then came out and had a slow drink. It's like being on holiday when you don't have to rush, it's nice to have the same here."

His friend, 19-year-old Charlotte Regan, was simply feeling sorry for small town clubs which she felt would have to work a lot harder to bring in the punters now they could choose to drink elsewhere.

Crossing over at 12.30am to The Sun and its club Clancys the latest venue in town with a 3am licence the streets were eerily quiet.

Inside, a Rusland Pool staff reunion was in full flow.

"If you're working late it's great to have a couple of hours to go out instead of half-an-hour," said 21-year-old Catherine Pearce.

Her friend Sandra Midgley, 23, of Lowick, added: "The vast majority of us are able to handle our drink. People will drink slower so they are not going to be as drunk."

Her generation might be famed for their love of binge boozing, but they also demonstrate that attitudes change: Miss Midgley was on the soft stuff as the designated driver for the night. Perhaps, as the optimists argue, longer hours can eventually turn us into calmer Continental drinkers.

Walking home in the small hours, the shrieking gaggles of spike-heeled women were nowhere to be seen. Instead there were just a few people quietly queuing for a burger at The Chuck Wagon. There was not one drink-related arrest over what was a busy weekend for Ulverston with its Dickensian weekend.

Could this be a resounding success for the Licensing Act? Had staggered opening actually helped cut boozy disorder as its architects had hoped?

After a quiet weekend across the county Cumbria Police weren't drawing any conclusions yet. Spokesman Mike Head said police would "monitor the situation", speculating that the cold had perhaps kept the revellers away (although in Ulverston a nip in the air has never discouraged the party girls from venturing out in barely-there frocks with no coats).

South Lakeland's licensing officer PC John Brooks was more confident, declaring it "a success without a shadow of doubt".

"It's like the millennium, it came, it went and everyone thought what was all that fuss about then. The only real difference is that licensees have to take more responsibility and people have more powers to object if they don't like what's going on. It's a good thing."