Police plan barrage of spot checks

Police and local authorities are already preparing to hammer pubs with a barrage of spot checks when the new Licensing Act comes into force.

With the government displaying increasing paranoia over the effect the legislation will have, others are gearing up to give licensees a rough ride from the November 24 start date.

In Northamptonshire pubs are already being warned they will be subject to spot checks from the police and local councils to ensure a personal licence holder is on the premises at all times. If venues are found without one they face being closed down immediately.

This is despite the Department for Culture, Media & Sport confirming there is nothing in the new Act requiring a designated premises supervisor or licence-holder to be on site at all times.

Daventry Licensed Victuallers' Association (LVA) has argued that the clampdown by Northamptonshire Licensing Partnership would be a "blatant disregard of the provisions of the new Act".

The LVA's secretary John Birch said: "This affects hundreds of licensees and the authority has consistently promoted this incorrect view". He added that the LVA was looking into bringing legal action against the move.

But East Northamptonshire Council said it would be applying a "common-sense approach". "If the personal licence-holder has just popped out or is out the back watching television then that is OK," said a spokeswoman.

"But if they have gone on holiday for two weeks we would expect another personal licence-holder to be there."

In Hertfordshire police have already sent out a warning shot to pubs that have applied for extended hours. In a newsletter to stakeholders, chief constable Frank Whiteley states that "grey areas in the Act" have caused "a dismissal of public concerns" by local authorities.

He added: "We urge that all parties work hard at revoking extended licences of premises that are shown to contribute to increased crime and disorder at an early stage."

But Martin Rawlings, the British Beer & Pub Association's director of pub and bar, thinks this is the wrong stance for the police to take. "If there's trouble there's a process to go with it," he said. "It's a little early to talk about licences being reviewed. If they were unhappy with extended licences, they have had their chance to object."

Gary Barnett, licensee at the Gate, in Sawbridgeworth, Hertfordshire, who has been licensed to open until 2am at the weekends, is also concerned. "It's absolutely ridiculous the way the police are going about it," he said. "They are anticipating trouble that might not even happen."