Trade slams 'mob-handed' policing

Licensees and trade leaders have condemned police and licensing officers who are making "mob-handed" visits to pubs to check on premises licences and other routine issues.

They said the action is confrontational - and the numbers involved are entirely disproportionate to the minor nature of the enquiries.

Ten police and licensing officers descended on the Green Dragon, Boreham-wood, Hertfordshire, during a weekly quiz night to check the premises licence was on display in the correct place.

They turned up in a riot van and entered the pub around 10pm on a bank holiday.

Host Jim Sullivan said: "It was unbelievable. They said the licence should be on full display but it's positioned on a side wall and if anyone needs to see it they can come and ask me."

Another pub, in Doncaster, was threatened with

closure after licensing officials arrived at 10pm on a bank holiday to check a minor licence discrepancy.

Federation of Licensed Victuallers Associations chief executive Tony Payne described the incidents as "heavy handed" and accused police and council officers of hassling licensees.

MA legal editor Peter Coulson said the police action appeared "over the top" and a supreme piece of "overkill".

"The law only requires a summary of the licence to be displayed and there are no directives about exactly where it should be positioned. Quite why it needed 10 people to carry out a simple check like this is beyond me."

Police in Borehamwood said the six officers and four licensing representatives were carrying out ongoing licensing checks as part of the work they were required to undertake.

The numbers involved were to ensure the checks were completed effectively and efficiently, police said.