Two new prototype pint glasses, which have been designed to reduce the injuries caused by glass attacks in pubs, were unveiled by the government yesterday.
The glasses have been produced under the Design Out Crime programme, an initiative from the Home Office’s Design & Technology Alliance Against Crime and the Design Council.
The prototypes will now undergo a range of intensive tests before they are ready to be piloted in pubs and bars, however it is not known how much they will cost to produce or implement or indeed if they will become mandatory.
Home secretary Alan Johnson said: "Glassing causes horrific injuries and has a lasting and devastating impact on victims and their families, I hope these designs will help bring an end to such attacks.
"While this is never going to be the only answer to preventing such violence, it is an important step forward which could also provide retailers and drinkers with a preferable alternative to plastic glasses."
David Kester, chief executive of the Design Council and member of the Alliance, added: "There are many benefits here; these innovative new designs could help protect the public and reduce the burden of coping with glassing related injuries. In the current economic climate it is also good to see such a thorny problem turned into a global export opportunity for British business."
The Home Office said that there weren 87,000 violent incidents involving glass each year, which cost the NHS an estimated £2.7bn.
In total alcohol related violence is estimated to cost the UK between £8 and £13bn a year.
The two designs are:
* Glass Plus – which looks just like a regular pint glass, but has a thin transparent coating of bio-resin on the inside, making it stronger.
* Twin Wall - a “revolutionary” design, made by bonding two ultra-thin layers of glass together in a concept similar to laminated car windscreens, making the glass extremely difficult to break.
