Updated

Safer pint glasses are set to be introduced in British pubs to reduce the injuries caused by nearly 87,000 glass attacks each year.

The Home Office is unveiling two prototypes that are designed not to shatter into loose and dangerous shards.

Liam Sharratt, 27, was hit in the face with a glass while out drinking with friends in a Manchester bar in November 2007.

He remembers little of the attack which left him with a giant gash on his right cheek.

Sharratt told Sky News: "I had a cut all the way down and also through my cheek, almost through to the inside of my mouth. The surgeon said I was going to be scarred for life.

"You go out for a drink with friends and an hour later someone is telling you that you'll be scarred for life. In that second my life changed... all because of a glass."

Violent incidents involving glasses and bottles cost an estimated $158 million in health, police and court costs each year.

Attempts to replace traditional pint glasses with plastic proved unpopular with drinkers.

The new designs feature high-tech ways of using glass and will be piloted in bars within months.

Home Secretary Alan Johnson said: "While this is never going to be the only answer to preventing violence, it is an important step forward which could also provide retailers with a preferable alternative to plastic glasses."

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