SO you’ve got on your coolest outfit and you are definitely looking good. The last thing you want to know about is anything to do with a "safe night out"!

But, hang about. Perhaps you’d like to have plenty more good nights out, especially over Christmas when everywhere is buzzin’.

The answer is easy. Just take a few simple steps, before and after, to make sure that it’s definitely a night to remember – and not to regret.

Every year around this time, young people – particularly those aged 18 to 25 – end up with a really bad experience from what should have been a good

time. This can involve drugs or drink, or both, and can lead to them being victims of violence, crime, sexual assault, unwanted pregnancy or a sexual infection.

The NHS and local authorities have come up with ways to help.

Stockport PCT, for example, is running its own Safer Nights campaign and offers these tips on having a fun, safe night out without any problems:

PACE YOUR DRINKS

To enjoy a longer night out pace your drinks and have plenty of water.

Always try to eat something before a night out to help soak up the alcohol.

If you feel too drunk, switch to soft drinks for a while. Water rehydrates your brain, helps stop dizziness, lessens the hangover pain and helps prevent queasiness.

FRIENDS STAY TOGETHER

Go into town together and leave together. Don’t wander off from your friends without letting anyone know where you’re going and arrange a meeting point in case you become separated.

WALK AWAY FROM TROUBLE

Be polite if you accidentally spill someone’s drink or bang into them, then apologise

Walk away from trouble – it’s not worth it. If a friend starts becoming aggressive, calm them down and encourage them to sober up with a few soft drinks.

TAKE SAFE TRANSPORT

When planning to go out, plan to get home safely.

Try to book a taxi before going out and arrange to be picked up from a safe, well-lit meeting point.

Find out where taxi ranks are and try to choose staffed ones.

If alone, book a taxi firm you know and trust. Don’t get into a private hire car (they look like a normal car) unless you have booked it first. Only traditional black cabs are insured to carry passengers who have flagged them down.

Always sit in the back, preferably behind the driver.

NIGHT BUS

Night buses run until around 3am in parts of Greater Manchester. Find out when the last bus leaves so that you don’t get stranded. Try to catch the bus from stops with bus loaders. If there isn’t any in your town, use well-lit bus stops in busy areas.

If alone, sit as near to the driver as possible and avoid empty upper decks. Tell the driver or guard if someone bothers you.

WALKING

Avoid walking home alone. If you have no choice, walk in the middle of the pavement and avoid dimly-lit areas.

Face oncoming traffic where you can be seen as this will avoid the surprise of a vehicle approaching from behind.

If you think you are being followed, cross the street several times. If you still think you are being followed, walk to the busiest area you can find and knock on somebody’s door.

There are help points in Manchester city centre linked to a CCTV operator.

CASE STUDY: VICTORIA Lax was on the way home by bus from a night out in 2007 when she was attacked by two drunk men.

She was just 18 and was travelling along Oxford Road with her boyfriend of the time and his brother. The attack was unprovoked and left her with a black eye and severe bruises all over her body.

She had been chatting to the two men on the bus when they suddenly turned nasty. "They seemed friendly at first," she says. "One of them said he gets told he looks like Gary Neville and I laughed. He stopped, looked angry and then, out of nowhere, he punched me.

"My boyfriend reacted but the bus stopped and one of them hauled me off. I landed on the ground and knocked my head. I was out of it for a bit but soon came around.

"I looked up and they were all fighting outside so I went over to break it up. One of them went for me again. He was rough and flipped me into the middle of the road. He kept kicking me in the stomach. He went for me three times."

Eventually, Victoria managed to call her brother, who came down with some friends and scared off the two drunks.

Victoria was left scared and angry. She says: "I come from a small town near Carlisle and would never have expected this to have happened. It takes its toll on you. I was shocked and so angry. I had bruises on my face and my ribs and had a black eye for three weeks."

The student says she was too scared to call the police. "I didn’t know what to do," she says. "I thought if I told the police my boyfriend would get into trouble for fighting back. I was younger then. I would call the police if anything like that happened again."

Victoria says she has learned never to trust drunk people she has just met and the importance of going out in groups.

"The guys were intoxicated. They weren’t in a normal mindset," she says. "You should never think that someone is your friend just because they are nice to you on the bus. You don’t know them at all and they can react in a way that you don’t expect. I have also learned how important it is to stay in groups. It would have been so much worse if I had been by myself."