Published Tuesday, 10 July 2012
Belfast is said to be one of the safest cities in the UK and Ireland. (© Presseye)
The city centre management team triumphed due to initiatives they had put in place, including the Belfast Nite Zones which feature CCTV, Emergency Contact Points and Street Pastors.
"Belfast is regarded as one of the top European destinations to visit and is statistically one of the safest cities in the UK and Ireland," Tom Smith, City Safe Officer with Belfast City Centre Management, said.
"Belfast Nite Zones helps us to provide reassurance around perceptions of safety and provides a sound management framework for our four main night-time entertainment areas."
The safety initiative was launched in August last year during the assessment for 'Purple Flag' accreditation for the Cathedral Quarter and was noted as extremely impressive by assessors.
"It is great that a safer initiative from Belfast is to be used as a best practice model across the whole of the UK - Belfast can be a trend-setter," Councillor Brian Kingston, chair of the Safer City Action Group, said.
Belfast was also deemed by judges at the Association of Town Centre Management Awards to have "showcased how a city effectively linked the daytime, evening and night-time economies".