Rome police focus on nightlife areas in wake of recent violent incidents.

Rome police officers are to step up checks in areas of the city most associated with nightlife, according to Italian news agency ANSA.

Police intend to focus in particular on the Piazza Bologna district in the Nomentana suburb, an area frequented by large crowds of young people, particularly at the weekends.

In addition to a more visible presence, officers intend to carry out increased checks similar to the "S. Lorenzo" model, a reference to a Rome neighbourhood synonymous with nightlife.

The plan was announced after a security meeting on 12 February, chaired by the capital's police chief Guido Marino, and follows a spate of violent nightlife incidents in the city.

The most high-profile of these was the shooting of 19-year-old swimmer Manuel Bortuzzo in the AXA suburb, and the case of a driver deliberately ramming bouncers outside a nightclub in Portonaccio.

Over the last weekend there was also a stabbing outside a club in the Piazza Barberini area of central Rome and a brawl between rival groups outside a pub in the Ostiense quarter.