Home Office denies fingerprinting scheme

The Home Office has refuted claims that licensees across the country could be forced to adopt fingerprint security on the door.

Licensees were left fearing the worst after press reports claimed the government would be forcing licensees to take on the scheme as a condition of their licence. Reports also suggested the Home Office was considering rolling out the scheme in other major towns including Coventry, Hull and Sheffield and would be funding the roll-out nationwide.

The reports were prompted after South Somerset District Council issued a press release on the success of its trial scheme in Yeovil, claiming it had resulted in a 23.5 per cent drop in alcohol-related violent crime.

A spokesman from the Home Office denied it had any plans to fund such schemes in the UK and said local authorities and police across the UK were free to implement thumb-scanning initiatives on their own.

He said: "The Home Office has no current plans to extend the trial in Yeovil to other towns and cities across the UK. In this case the onus was from Yeovil police."

Tony Payne, chief executive of the Federation of Licensed Victuallers Associations, said: "If the government had tried to impose that on our members we would have taken legal advice immediately. It is irresponsible for the media to report this without checking the facts. It puts pressure on licensees who then worry about what they are going to do about it."

Danny Scott, licensee at Rick's Bar in Greenwich, London, said: "It's incredulous and disgusting. It's just big brother syndrome. I wouldn't have been willing to implement it anyway. It would have just added to everything else we have to put up with, and would probably have pushed me over the edge and made me leave the trade."

However, the local council has now backtracked on its claims, agreeing it is a voluntary scheme. Julia Bradburn, principle licensing officer for South Somerset District Council said that there had been one case out of six where a stipulation had been implemented into a premises' licence, but that this was done on the recommendation of the police. She said: "The scheme is entirely voluntary. We can't impose it on anybody."