Troubled publican set to lead Pubwatch scheme

A licensee who faced losing his public entertainment licence because of late-night brawls outside his pub is to lead a new Pubwatch scheme in his area.

Brian Jay, who owns Jay's Bar in Cradley Heath, West Midlands, has decided to get tough on alcohol-related violence and wants other pubs and bars in the area to sign up for the new scheme.

Sandwell Council has granted Mr Jay a renewal of his public entertainment licence despite complaints from a family that lives near his pub. They claimed they had been plagued by noisy karaoke and disco nights as well as by fights and by drinkers urinating in the street.

The local police told the council that its officers had been called out to the bar to deal with trouble 14 times in the 12 months leading up to August last year. Officers said this was unacceptable.

But Mr Jay said he was being singled out by a small group of local residents who blamed him for being responsible for trouble which he was actually trying to stop.

Mr Jay has run the bar for 16 years. "I have cleaned up my act since a revamp last May and won't stand for any trouble," he told the Birmingham Post.

"We get yobs who we won't let through the door and when they later cause trouble in the street we get the blame.

"I have been trying to set up this Pubwatch scheme for two years but need to get more support from licensees and the police. This time I am going ahead with it. If all the pubs stick together we can stamp out the troublemakers."