Oxfordshire's senior police officer believes many revellers will not be capable of drinking sensibly if pubs and clubs open later - blaming British yob culture and the antics of footballers and pop stars.

Chief Supt David McWhirter

Chief Supt David McWhirter, the county's police commander, said he had changed his mind about the impact of liberalising licensing laws.

He said he no longer believed extending drinking times would lessen the problem of violence as large numbers of people spilled out of pubs and nightclubs.

He said it would be desirable to move towards a more relaxed, European approach, where people stayed out late without becoming rowdy, but he believed British yob culture stood in the way.

He said: "A lot of people involved in that sort of late-night drinking simply don't have the maturity to handle the longer hours.

"There's a danger that things could get worse and not better as a result of new licensing laws.

"That's not because the laws are bad, it's because people can't behave in a sensible way and handle their drinking. I don't see any sign of it decreasing.

"It's a society and citizenship issue, and the police pick up the pieces at the end of the night."

He believed part of the problem was the behaviour of footballers and pop stars regarded as role models by young people.

"Some of the loutish and yobbish footballers behave in a quite disgraceful way, and their behaviour is noticed by young people," he said.

Tony Breslin, chief executive of the Citizenship Foundation, an education charity helping young people become upstanding citizens, said: "One way of addressing so-called yobbish behaviour is the roll-out of citizenship education within the school curriculum with its focus on rights and responsibilities.

"Role models really need to demonstrate positive behaviour themselves."

But Mark Forder, Oxfordshire secretary of the National Union of Teachers, said: "If society chooses to show young people these highly paid, over-privileged people on TV, society is then saying 'these are the people you should be looking at'.

"Teachers can't change that, we really can't."

He said citizenship was already taught in schools, and teachers strove to present young people with positive role models during the hours they were at school.

But he said teachers became annoyed when politicians expected them to shoulder all responsibility for producing responsible citizens.

Les Taylor, Oxford United's youth development officer, said young footballers, aged between nine and 18, rarely got into trouble with the referee, and there were strict codes of conduct governing how young players conducted themselves on and off the pitch.

He said there was a lot at stake in the professional game, resulting in well-known footballers getting carried away, but despite occasional high-profile cases, most players behaved themselves.

Susan Brown, Oxford City Council's executive member for crime and community safety, said greater flexibility about opening had been wanted in Oxford.

"The thing that is frequently forgotten about the Licensing Act is that it gives councils and police a whole raft of powers to deal swiftly with licensees and licensed premises where disorder takes place," she added.

So far, Oxford City Council has not received a single application for an extension of hours.

Pub chain Mitchells & Butlers, which owns Oxford nightspots including the Goose, O'Neills, All Bar One and The Jericho, and Luminar Leisure, which operates Park End Club and Shout, in Park End Street, have said venues might apply to remain open for an hour or two longer on selected days.

There are 642 licensed premises in Oxford. All must apply before August 6 for their licences to be renewed. Only a handful have reapplied so far.