Revellers in a British town are to have their fingerprints scanned when they enter pubs and clubs in a scheme aimed at weeding out drunken troublemakers.

The "In Touch" project is the first of its kind in Britain.

Biometric finger-scanning machines have been installed at six venues in Yeovil, southwest England. Clubbers will be asked to have their right index finger scanned and show picture identification to register on the system.

"If somebody is causing trouble in one pub and is removed from the premises, from the time it takes for that person to walk to another venue, the system will have been updated and the door staff at other venues will be aware."

"It will also mean that they do not have to carry ID on them which can often be the source of inconvenience."

Once registered on the system, clubbers are identified by finger scan only.

The scheme is voluntary and the information stored will be subject to data protection laws.

I think it's safe to make this broad statement now. Britain is the canary in the coal mine when it comes to determining how much monitoring and surveillance a citizenry will accept.