Pubs accused of using loud music to encourage drinking

Pubs that play loud music are being told it is nothing more than a ploy to encourage people to drink more.

According to a survey in the Evening Standard newspaper, three out of four pubs were playing music louder than European standards on a Saturday night.

Alcohol Concern has claimed that this is a method to keep people drinking.

Visits to pubs by the paper also revealed how some were almost as loud as standing beside a pneumatic drill and no one responded to a polite request to turn down the volume.

"There is no doubt that music and pub layout have an effect on how people consume alcohol," said Sophie Davison of Alcohol Concern.

"If the music is so loud you can't talk you are likely to drink quicker, likewise if there are no seats and no surfaces to rest drinks on.

"The pubs that trade like this need to do more to make the experience pleasant because this is what keeps customers returning."

But not all licensees choose to have music in their pubs and for those that do it is not necessarily deemed good business to play it loud.

"I'd say it's rubbish that if you play the music loud people drink more," said Catherine Kay, licensee at CK's in Manchester.

"I'm sure many pubs across the country are responsible with their music policy, I would never dream of doing anything to make customers neck their drinks, we don't encourage that type of behaviour."

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