Nightclubs cop backlash

Large nightclubs make

very large targets for

a police force looking to make a point

The PMA Team, Deputy Editor

A nightclub boss who shall remain nameless used to be highly critical of the pub world for the problems that drop - sometimes literally - on his doorstep. His thesis was that customers are often allowed to drink in an uncontrolled way as they spin around the pub circuit on Friday and Saturday evenings.

These customers - unsteady on their feet and befuddled - would end up at the door of the local nightclub only to be turned away by trained and expensive doorstaff. His horribly-simplistic view was that pubs, especially those licensed late, were just not geared to handling the late-drinking crowds as professionally as nightclubs do. The truth is that it's in no-one's interest to run an unruly pub.

But it's time for a word of sympathy for the large nightclubs that are being targeted by police. The Works in Nottingham, the Hippodrome in London's Leicester Square and the Syndicate in Blackpool have all had their licences revoked in recent weeks. These decisions seem to be based on the quantum of incidents that have occurred at these mega-capacity venues. The suspicion arises that a nightclub makes a very large target for a police force looking to make a point.

However, incidents - such as domestic fall-outs, thefts, scuffles - are unavoidable even at the best-run nightclub. When a 4,000-strong crowd spills out on the street at 2am it can look messy and it's not difficult for documentary-makers to film scenes of drunks and disorder. A police presence is necessary in the same way that a large football crowd needs policing. And it must be galling for officers to have to reason with these idiot youths every weekend.

But it's just plain wrong to hold it against a nightclub for calling the police for assistance when it's needed and it's plain wrong to apportion blame for incidents like theft. The nightclub and pub industry's Achilles heel is under-age drinking. When the police launch wave after wave of under-age sting operations they will succeed eventually. It's probably the same police officers - like every other parent who regards the 'first drink' in a pub and nightclub as a safe rite of passage - who are likely to be dropping off their 16-year-old sons and daughters in city centres with a crisp £20 note on a Saturday evening.

Opinion heading

A nightclub boss who shall remain nameless used to be highly critical of the pub world for the problems that drop - sometimes literally - on his doorstep.

His thesis was that customers are often allowed to drink in an uncontrolled way as they spin around the pub circuit on Friday and Saturday evenings.

MA|27/10/2005|12|Hayes calls for council saturation policies|by Ewan Turney

Later opening hours could cause 10 years of mayhem because most councils have not adopted saturation policies - that's the stark warning from outgoing Bar Entertainment & Dance Association (BEDA) chairman John Hayes.

Hayes, who owns Club 2000 in Scunthorpe, said that the explosion in the number of licensed premises was to blame for much of the bad publicity surrounding under-age and binge drinking.

Hayes claimed that a surfeit of licensed premises has created huge pressures to fill venues by offering cut-price booze.

'There is probably not a single premises in the country that doesn't have under-age drinkers in, but it is not a new thing,' he said. 'All it takes is a good fake ID or the wrong doorman to be working. The difference now is alcohol is so cheap (younger customers) can afford to get drunk.

'Two years ago, I used to sell Smirnoff Ice for £3.50 a bottle. But now I am forced to offer three for £5 because of market pressures.'

Hayes has seen his turnover halve inside three years and claims he has no choice but to slash prices because his premises is off the main circuit.

'I have to put my prices at the same level as the likes of JD Wetherspoon to get people down here and from November they will be open until 1.30am,' he said. 'Everyone is fighting for a thin slice of cake - people only come out with so much money.'

He added: 'The solution would be a strong saturation policy, but my local authority does not even have one. Councils are scared to deny operators what they want for fear of having to pay out costs (legal challenges).

'It is due to the wishy-washy nature of the guidelines. I predict the licensing laws will take 10 years to settle down. Until then it could be mayhem.'