Home Office pushes century old legislation

The Home Office is proving irresponsible drinking is far from a new phenomenon by urging police to enforce a law that is more than a century old.

Under the Licensing Act 1902 police can ban drinkers from buying alcohol for three years if they are caught causing trouble while drunk more than three times.

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) has built the hundred-year-old "three strikes" rule into the Licensing Act 2003 and the Home Office wants police to enforce it as part of the 'Tackling Violent Crime in the Night-Time Economy' initiative.

Local authorities and police will issue information on the offenders as part of the process to aid licensees in the banning process.

A spokesman for the DCMS, said: "It's true that we are including the 1902 legislation in the Licensing Act 2003. The government is also urging police to make more use of legislation from 1980 to obtain exclusion orders following convictions for violence in pubs."

Mark Hastings, director of communications at the British Beer and Pub Association, said: "Anyone in the licensed trade would support it if it means that we can cut down on the number of people intent on causing trouble. And it just goes to show that irresponsible drinking is a problem the government has been trying to solve for many years."

The Home Office is also involved in a series of location investigations to reveal the links between social disorder and the night-time economy.

Under the banner of "study tours" Home Office staff, trade representatives and police have visited Croydon, Westminster and Romford to learn more about the potential problems and will next look at the off-trade.