Bars to go plastic after glassing

Blake Golding needed 40 stitches during four hours of surgery

Bars have pledged to use only plastic glasses and bottles after a campaign by the parents of a man who was scarred for life in a glass attack.

Eight Milton Keynes bars are switching to serving drinks in polycarbonate "glasses", joining Bar-Me, where Blake Golding was attacked in 2004.

Working with police, Mr Golding's parents have urged bars and clubs to switch despite the rarity of attacks.

Venues in the local Barwatch scheme have all vowed to introduce plastic.

Mr Golding has been unable to work since he was attacked on Christmas Day 2004.

'Disfiguring and maiming'

He needed 40 stitches in his face and lost four pints of blood when he was attacked as went to the aid of a female colleague.

His attacker, Jamie Palmer, of Milton Keynes, was jailed for two years in June 2005.

Mr Golding's parents, Robert and Marjorie, from Newport Pagnell, gathered a petition of more than 10,000 signatures urging late-night licensed venues to switch.

Paramedics appealed for venues to switch to plastic glasses

Lynn Poizat, of Milton Keynes police, said: "Mr and Mrs Golding gave a talk to all my colleagues across Thames Valley encouraging people to use plastic glasses.

"Because we are acutely aware in Milton Keynes of what happened to Blake we have been involved in discussions with the late night venues, encouraging them to look into using polycarbonate glasses."

Paramedics made a similar appeal to venues last year.

South Central Ambulance Service Trust, serving Oxfordshire, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Dorset and Hampshire, said it had responded to about 750 assaults at late-night venues in six-month period.

Tony Heselton, a trust paramedic, made an appeal for glass to be banned after he said he had seen disfiguring and maiming glass injuries.