The wild West End

With the police struggling to control the rise in drunkenness in London's West End, tough measures have been announced. Jackie Annett reports

Drunken and loutish behaviour on the streets of Britain could soon become a distant memory after police authorities across the country announced stringent measures to crack down on drink-related crime.

But while no one could argue that cutting alcohol-related crime is a bad idea, it looks as though once again it will be the trade that takes the blame for yobbish behaviour and licensees that have to suffer the consequences.

Just last week Scotland Yard warned the public it would clamp down on public drunkenness as part of a clean up of the West End of London's "Ibiza culture". (See Police to blitz 'Ibiza culture' (6 September 2001) for more details).

This coincides with news that, on a national level, police have been given tougher powers to clamp down on anyone found drinking in public.

Each year the streets of Soho, Leicester Square and Covent Garden in London see more than 4,000 people arrested for drunken and disorderly offences.

Police are struggling to control rising street crime and drug dealing in the area and the escalating problem has been blamed on a thriving licensed trade and a move towards a 24-hour drinking culture.

"I think people need a break from this 24-hour society," the new head of policing in Westminster, Andy Trotter, said. "I think people should be happy to enjoy themselves until the early hours of the morning and then go home. This is not cafe society in the West End. It is not Barcelona it is Ibiza.

"We will be adopting a much more assertive style of policing in the West End. We will be arresting and charging people for low-level offences such as drunkenness and begging."

But it isn't just London that will experience a more heavy-handed police approach.

Police officers across the country will confiscate alcohol from people who are drunk and will be issuing fixed penalty fines against those who continue to drink after they have been warned.

They will also be cracking down on drinking establishments that serve after time and any licensees who are caught selling alcohol beyond permitted opening hours will be given a "one-strike-and-you're-out" warning.

Any licensees who ignore verbal advice will be automatically served an enforcement notice and taken to court.

To add to this, police have also revealed that night and weekend courts will open in London next year to deal with thugs and drunken offenders.

People who live in the busy entertainment areas of Westminster, such as Soho, have been at loggerheads with the trade for some time.

While they accept there has to be a degree of late-night opening, they have been active in persuading Westminster Council to curb the number of late night licences it awards.

The residents welcomed the new police moves but have still expressed some caution.

David Bieda, spokesman for the Soho Society - a residents and traders association - told the Evening Standard: "We have to hose our doorsteps every morning because drunken people urinate on them.

"We do not feel we can go out after midnight because of the threatening atmosphere here. There has to be an element of late night life as this is the centre of the city and people want places to drink.

"But we do not feel there is a balance in Soho. The reason we have this problem is because licensing magistrates give licences away like confetti. We need proper enforcement - more police on the streets."

But pub and club owners disagree. While they say they are keen to cut crime and drink-related violence in the city, they do not believe that late licences are given out freely and want to see the police crack down on the public's behaviour.

Westminster Council, on the other hand, has always insisted that it is trying to strike a balance between the needs of residents and local business although it has been criticised for its reluctance to award new late licences.

In order to counter the fears that the council is coming down too heavily on the side of the residents, a group of licensees have formed a new trade body to represent the views of pub and bar operators in the area. More than 30 per cent of the area's licensees are now involved (See Westminster council hits back at licensing criticisms (3 September 2001)for more details).

Philip Matthews of the Rock Garden bar and restaurant, and secretary of the association, said he did not view the latest police statement as an attack on the licensed sector but an attack on Britain's "binge-drinking" culture.

However, he added that members were concerned that the licensed trade was sometimes singled out unnecessarily.

"We would like to make sure that all the ills of Westminster are not just blamed on the thriving licensed sector, and we want to make sure that not all operators are tarred with the same brush," he said.

"But I don't see this as an attack on us, it is directed more at the public and their behaviour."

While the police, licensees and members of the public want to see drink-related crime wiped out, some publicans are concerned that the police may take a heavy-handed approach.

But a similar campaign in Manchester, "Think Safe, Drink Safe", has seen crime fall by 8.5 per cent already this year.

This too concentrated on changing customers' behaviour rather than clamping down on licensees.

Both licensees and the police are now hoping for a similar result in London's West End and in other trouble hot-spots around the country.

What will actually happen?​

• police will crack down on "low-level" offences such as drunkenness and begging
• police will confiscate alcohol where drunkenness is a problem and will beable to issue fixed penalty fines against those who continue to drink after they have been warned.
• establishments that have a history of violence or loutish behaviour couldhave their licence taken away or be forced to close early
• premises will be closed if licensees serve after time
• weekend and evening courts could be opened to help the police deal withextra arrests.

What else can be done?​

Licensees should:

• join local crime and disorder partnerships set up by local authorities and police
• join local Pubwatch initiatives or set up regular meetings with police to discuss problems
• carefully monitor happy hours and other drinks promotions
• use trained doorstaff at busy periods to help spot and defuse potential trouble.

The Government could:

• introduce a national proof-of-age scheme to help licensees combat under age drinking
• reform licensing hours
• lower beer duty to cut the amount of bootlegged alcohol flooding into Britain.

The issue of this police crackdown has led to some comments on thePublican.com​ (Comments taken from Police to blitz 'Ibiza culture' (6 September 2001))

Richard Dobson:​ "Licensees are responsible for what they allow on their premises. Drunkenness and loutish behaviour is created in pubs and clubs, and can and should be controlled. If the willingness to do so isn't there, licensees shouldn't complain when their premises are targeted as problem areas."

Shaun Firby:​ "Yet another 'let's make someone else accountable, as we can not be bothered' typical approach to the ever increasing social problems our country accepts as 'well it's going to happen anyway so let's cut costs and blame someone else, after all one business in all those thousands - no one will notice!'"