London, March 18 (Reuters): English pubs have been freed from the decades-old shackles of rigid licensing hours for nearly six weeks now ? but hardly any want to dip a toe into the uncharted waters of 24-hour drinking.

Since February 7, pubs and clubs have been able to apply under new laws to stay open round the clock. The aim was to try to curb Britain?s growing problems with alcohol and drink-fuelled violence by introducing more flexible drinking habits. But opponents said 24-hour drinking would just make a bad situation worse, especially on Friday and Saturday nights.

Now local councils across England and Wales have revealed just how few bars want to stay open all the time. In Liverpool, Manchester, Brighton, Swansea, Birmingham, Nottingham and Newcastle, they have not received a single application for any extensions to existing opening hours.