A REVOLUTION of the bar scene across the town is taking hold with a new breed of bars offering drinkers a niche style drinking experience more likely to be found in city centres.

The reputation of the town’s nightlife hit a low as national media drew attention to some venues offering cheap drinks with photographs showing revellers supposedly struggling outside on the street.

But if those cameras were placed outside some of the new bars cropping up you would get a very different impression.

The Lounge, on Springfield Street, first opened seven years ago as an alternative place offering continental beers and cocktails for people to drink who were looking for something different.

Owner Adam Lawson said: “When we set this place up we wanted to make it somewhere where we wanted to go. A lot of my mates used to go to Manchester on the train but now they are staying around here and keeping people in Warrington and the businesses going.

And bars say they are putting more of an emphasis on the types of drinks they offer - whether it is cocktails, spirits and beers to draw visitors in.

Sabz Thompson, bar manager at The Palmyra, on Springfield Street, said: “We gave the venue an identity of a cocktail bar then we expanded into the bar.

“There is a huge market in Warrington for cocktails but no one has ever tapped into it before.

“We do a lot of cocktail masterclasses which people really enjoy.

“All the cocktails are cooked up by us - there are no copies.”

Other venues such as Agave Rumbar and The Quarter Bar are among the newer venues which have opened their doors in the past year - each with its own different selling point.

“Any competition is good competition,” added Sabz. “We work closely with the Rumbar and The Lounge and we promote each other a lot.

“We are sending people over to them and they are sending people over to us.”

And with a number of long established pubs and bars across the town which have been catering for punters for years the widening divergence of the night scene is helping to boost the local economy.

“It’s a place to come and enjoy a few beers or cocktails and a meal,” added Adam. “It’s like the Northern Quarter in Manchester now.

“And Bridge Street is far better than its reputation from four or five years ago and the bars around there are doing a decent job too.”

The team behind The Palmyra is also busy working on a new venture and is set to open a new high-end cocktail and wine bar called The Institution Bar in the former council offices next door to the Parr Hall.