A pub has set up a swipe card system to let its regulars into their local while keeping out yobs.

The Pelham Buckle in Ifield Drive, Crawley, had been having problems with anti-social behaviour from drinkers from a nearby estate when police suggested they hired a bouncer and put in place a curfew.

Landlord Steve Horn said if he was going to pay for security he might as well set up a 'members' arrangement like a lot of nightclubs and pay for a £5,000 magnetic strip system to be installed.

It is the first system of its kind in a British pub and involves all regulars or 'members' getting an electronic pass which lets them in and out of the pub. Meanwhile the door is barred to rowdy boozers and other undesirables.

Mr Horn said if passers-by wanted to come in he would have an informal chat and get them to fill in a form with all their details. Anyone behaving in an anti-social way would have their card confiscated and police would have access to details if anyone behaved in an anti-social way.

The 'no-yob' zone was introduced a year ago and the pub now has 600 members.

He said: "It is just a way of keeping trouble away.

"We are a community pub and we are about providing a nice, safe place for our locals. I need to protect my regulars and my staff.

"We were having trouble from a certain group of people and this was a way of keeping them out.

"It has worked and all my regulars are happy now and we don't get any trouble."

Eddie Ewens, 76, of Ifield Road, Crawley, said he had been going to the pub for years and was happy with the new system. He said: "There used to be a lot of yobs coming in but the cards have got rid of them.

"I have been coming here for years and it is absolutely no bother having the cards. I think it is a good thing."