Police calls for plastic 'coming thick and fast'

Managed pub chain JD Wetherspoon (JDW) has reported that requests from police to introduce polycarbonate glasses have been coming in "thick and fast" in the past month.

Newport in South Wales, Fareham in Hampshire, Trowbridge in Wiltshire, Slough in Berkshire, Kingston in Surrey, Ilford in Essex and Daventry in Northamptonshire, are among the new towns where police have called for plastic glasses to be introduced.

Many Pubwatch meetings in the south-west of the country have also received presentations from the police on the merits of polycarbonate glass, while West Dorset District Council has decided to "encourage" pubs to switch to plastic glasses.

The increase in police requests for plastic glasses follows a national conference, held last November, where police forces heard about their success in reducing problems of violence in Bournemouth.

Association of Chief Police Offices lead on licensing Chris Allison threw his weight behind polycarbonates at the conference, and the gathering also heard from Marjorie Goulding, whose son was badly injured in a glass attack in Milton Keynes, Bucks.

JDW CEO John Hutson has argued that police requests for a blanket introduction of plastic glasses represent a bigger threat to the pub trade than the smoking ban.

He said: "Requests are coming in thick and fast.

"With underage drinking, the major companies were called in by Government and were told what was bothering it, what the problem is.

"It was slightly bullying on the part of Government but we could say, 'We take your point and will do something about it'. But there has been no equivalent round-table discussion of plastic glasses.

"This is drifting down from police forces in an unreasoned way."

JDW senior licensing and planning solicitor Melinka Berridge said: "This issue has been raised at just about every south-west Pubwatch meeting in the past month.

"The police go from suggesting a switch to polycarbonate to giving a full presentation on the issue."

Another industry source told the MA that he received a letter from police in one town indicating that a licence- review application could result for pubs that have not switched to plastic glasses and have glass-based violent incidents.

plastic cannot be enforced

Police have no legal powers to force licensees to stock plastic glasses, says MA legal editor Peter Coulson.

"The Licensing Act has no provision for the police to impose blanket

conditions that would compel licensees to 'go plastic'. Any condition would have to be tailored to a particular premises by the licensing authority itself through a licensing review based on that pub's circumstances.

"There is clear suspicion that the police are trying through the back door to get pubs to go plastic."

Coulson said local

authorities had the right to amend licensing policies to include provision for plastic glasses on grounds of public safety, but that would only affect new licence applications.

"I have grave doubts whether a council could amend its policy, then try to make it retrospective."

PUBWATCH view

National Pubwatch says there is no justification for a blanket glassware ban in pubs.

"We have no difficulty with polycarbonate glasses where there is a clear problem in a particular premises. But we do not see any need for a blanket ban as a matter of policy," said honorary secretary Malcolm Eidmans.

"Where do you draw the line and will any other venue where alcohol is sold, such as a restaurant or hotel, be sucked in too?" he said. "If there's a clear

problem in a pub I'd expect the licensee to identify it and take necessary action.

"There's no justification for imposing a blanket ban which hits premises where there's no clear problem."

views from the trade

Licensees have given the prospect of plastic glasses a huge thumbs-down. Hosts say the artificial containers will be a massive turn-off for the majority of pub customers.

They also reject polycarbonate vessels on grounds of expense, quality and lack of style.

Steve Murphy, joint operator of the Church House Inn, Bollington, Cheshire, said: "I rarely agree with one-size-fits-all policies - and this is a classic example. I have sympathy for police doing their job around urban centres, but asking all pubs to go plastic is simply wrong."

Scarborough LVA president Kath Duffy, who runs the seafront Newcastle Packet, said plastic glasses "simply do

not look good." She said: "I'm certain most of the regular customers would be appalled at the idea, although there may be a case for plastic glasses in outside areas."

John Farrell, of Blackpool's Duke of York, who is also vice- chairman of the town's Pubwatch, said he had doubts about the quality of plastic glasses. "Pubwatch is due to discuss this at its next meeting but I'm certain most members will express major doubts," he revealed.

Federation of Licensed Victuallers Associations chief executive Tony Payne said hosts should not be coerced by police into using plastic. "If a licensee is approached by police, my advice would be to ask them their grounds for making the request. There's no evidence that plastic glasses are safer. I can't understand where the police are coming from," he said.

police responses to the issue vary across regions

The introduction of polycarbonate glasses is being orchestrated by police chiefs on a regional basis, MA enquiries have revealed. In some towns, local forces are implementing directives dictated by senior officers at regional level.

Across the Thames Valley area, which embraces the counties of Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire, police have been instructed to promote the use of plastic containers wherever possible. In Slough, larger pubs are being contacted and urged to use plastic glasses, which have been supplied free to allow licensees to "test the water".

"We have begun by targeting the bigger premises but would hope this will eventually spread to all pubs in the town," said licensing sergeant Jim Ferguson.

"There has been a little resistance, but the majority of licensees have been upbeat about it all. We are having ongoing discussions through the local pubwatch group," he said. "This policy has come from the top of the force."

In Northampton, police are urging hosts to consider a "plastic-only" policy for all drinks served after midnight.

"I have a vision that all pubs and clubs in the town will be totally polycarbonate before the year is finished," said sergeant Mark Worthington.

"Whether this will happen is another matter, but I certainly believe we could have plastic glasses, and hopefully plastic bottles, in town-centre pubs with the most potential for violence."

Ten Liverpool pubs are experimenting with plastic glasses in a scheme partly funded by the National Health Service.

The city's Chamber of Commerce, which co-ordinates the local Pubwatch, has obtained funding that will cover the extra cost of stocking polycarbonate containers in the selected venues. "We want to see all city-centre pubs using plastic," revealed Pubwatch co-ordinator Joe Curran.

"This is particularly important as July's smoking ban will mean many more people drinking outside," he said. Lancashire police said that it encourages licensees in towns across the county to use plastic where individual circumstances dictate.

"We are mainly talking about big vertical-drinking establishments - not rural or real-ale pubs," said sergeant Richard Hurt of the force's Operation Support Services.

Manchester licensing police said there was no blanket policy on plastic containers in any part of the city.

Chief Inspector Paul Acton, of Manchester City Centre Safe, said: "We will only act when we have evidence of a specific problem. Licensing reviews will be a last resort."

A licensing police spokesman in Ilford, Essex, said that only selected town-centre premises had been asked to adopt plastic glasses.