Paid for policing issue raised by top cop

A leading police officer has again questioned who should foot the bill when extra police are needed to control alcohol-fuelled violence and disorder.

Andy Trotter, deputy assistant commissioner of the Metropolitan police, said the issue of who should cover the cost of extra policing of troublesome venues or town centres, particularly after football matches, should be sorted out.

Speaking at the 7th Top Table Talk, hosted by The Portman Group in London last week, he said: "Someone should be paying for these extra policing costs. The fact remains that if a particular licensed premises is causing trouble for the surrounding area then that is a concern for us."

His comments come after a period of confusion over the issue of paid-for-policing. Earlier this year Home Office minister Bob Ainsworth said the government was looking to enforce charges on publicans to pay for extra policing costs caused by anti-social behaviour outside their premises.

Despite this, the anti-social behaviour bill, passed in the summer, contained no legislation on the matter and both Prime Minister Tony Blair and Tessa Jowell, the secretary of state for culture, media and sport, have recently said the government is not looking to force licensees to pay for police.

However, in what could be viewed as a u-turn on the matter, the Prime Minister's Big Conversation, launched last month, contained a question that asked the public to decide whether a nightclub or pub should be forced to fork out for extra policing costs.