The late late blow

The Government claims to be pushing for licensing leniency, but some police forces and councils are seeking the opposite. Jackie Annett reports

The city of Westminster in London is one place that is being hit hard by a combined police and council effort to clean up drink-related crime and disorder by cutting back late licences.

And while licensees in the area recognise that there is a problem with drunkenness, they are unhappy that they have come under attack yet again for the "Ibiza-style yob culture" that police say is ruining the city's nightlife.

In the latest round of blows to the city's licensed trade, the Sugar Reef nightclub and restaurant in Piccadilly has been warned that it may be forced to shut at 1am rather than 3am.

This comes after the restaurant and club operator, Chorion, won its long-standing court battle with Westminster Council to secure a late licence until 3am just last month.

Now the council is looking to appeal the decision, which could mean the bar would be forced to close at 1am, because Westminster says it is in the city's "stress zone".

Chief executive of Chorion Nick Tamblyn (pictured)​ said he hoped the restaurant and club would be allowed to stay open until 3am.

He added that the licensed trade was not the only cause of the rise in crime and disorder.

"There are two key problems with the West End. The first one is that it is becoming more popular and the second problem is that the number of police on the streets has diminished," he said.

"If we could return to the 1990s level of policing this would solve a lot of the trouble. We also need to improve public transport. If the tube stayed open until 3am three nights a week we would see a huge difference in the amount of crime.

"It's not the majority who are causing the problem but a small minority of people who are crowding onto the streets at night and causing disorder such as smashing windows."

He told thePublican.com that operators were working hard to curb excessive drinking and to ensure crime, disorder and nuisance levels were kept to a minimum.

But a better transport system is needed so that revellers can get home in the early hours of the morning, he insisted.

Licensees would be happy to help fund this initiative and the trade and the police now have to convince the operators to open later.

The answer is not to restrict opening hours, he added.But a spokeswoman for Westminster council said: "We are just trying to strike a balance between the needs of the business community and residents.

"Our policy has not changed. No current licences will be affected."

She added that the council is only granting 1am licences to premises in the "saturation area" because there is already a high number of venues which have contributed to a surge in crime and disorder. Those venues that already have a later licence than 1am will not be affected, she insisted.

Crime costs Westminster £300m a year - a great deal of which is spent on the West End. But the fact that the council is restricting late licences has wide-reaching implications for the rest of the UK.

Publicans in cities such as Manchester, Leeds, Liverpool and Birmingham could find that their local councils begin to take a more heavy-handed approach.

Restricting late licences is just one step that Westminster is taking to minimise crime and disorder.

The council will be looking at other measures such as curbing drinking in the city's streets under the new Criminal Justice and Police Act.

Street drinking bans are already operating in other cities such as Manchester and Liverpool.

The council is also considering introducing a "chill-out hour" into late-night pubs and clubs before closing, when no alcohol can be served and customers can sober up before leaving.

Other proposals include plans to ban happy hours in pubs and bars in the West End of London, which would mean that some promotions such as two-for-the-price-of-one offers would be regulated by a "minimum pricing agreement".

However, a similar idea in Middlesbrough earlier this year ran into unforeseen trouble when the Office of Fair Trading ruled that a scheme to set a minimum price of £1.50 per drink went against competition laws.

By June next year, extra CCTV cameras will be installed in the West End as part of a £1.2m project which will see 33 additional cameras watch over Regent Street, Soho, China Town, Leicester Square, Piccadilly and Covent Garden.

Licensees think this is a step in the right direction in the fight against crime but many still want to see more police on the streets.

Philip Matthews of the Westminster Licensees' Association and licensee of the Rock Garden bar and restaurant said: "This is the kind of initiative that licensees want to see as long as it targets all issues and not just drunkenness.

"As long as this is not a replacement for police officers on the streets it will be a great benefit. But there are already too few officers on the streets of Westminster," he said (See London licensees welcome extra security measures (18 September 2001)for full article).

Although this issue has raised fears that rather than heading towards a 24-hour culture, the UK is becoming more and more out of touch with its European counterparts, the Government denies this is the case.

A spokeswoman for the Department of Media, Culture and Sport said the Government was, "still very much in favour of licensing reform".

She added: "Staggering closing times often leads to fewer people being on the streets at any given time and reduces crime and disorder."

"But this is a local issue and it is still very much up to the local councils and the police to address local concerns."

Current problems for police​

• 41 per cent of the total Westminster Command police budget is now spent in the West End
• On a normal Saturday night there are only 13 officers on duty while there are 125,000 revellers in the area. This level of police officers has decreased since the September 11 attacks on New York
• There has been an increase in violent social disorder due to larger numbers of drunk people than the police can cope with
• There has been a reduction in demand for other types of entertainment making the West End a more frightening and less attractive place to visit
• The rise in drinking establishments is fostering a Class A drugs culture both in the clubs and on the streets and is turning the West End into a rubbish tip

Licensees want​

• Higher numbers of police on the streets
• London Underground services to run until 3am on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights
• An increase in late-night bus services.
• A Government-backed national proof-of-age card
• Extended opening hours so that licensees can stagger the time that customers are let out onto the streets

New council initiatives​

• A new 33-camera CCTV system will be delivered in partnership with the police and private business supporters covering the main West End trouble spots
• A street warden service will be introduced into the Leicester Square area to provide public reassurance
• There will be extra private waste collectors in the area in an attempt to reduce black bags on the streets
• Council enforcement teams will continue to patrol and inspect licensed premises to combat the worst abusers
• Street lighting, street paving and street furniture are being reviewed to ensure that higher standards are achieved
• New mobile urinals have been introduced
• The council and the police are working together to be more ruthless with unlicensed minicab drivers
• The council is lobbying for extra policing, later public transport and more funding to deal with the impact of the late-night economy whi