Scottish trade speaks out over Edinburgh seating policy
Edinburgh licensing board is set to back compulsory 50 per cent seating in pubs.
The scheme is part of draft regulations boards have to draw up to comply with Scotland's new Licensing Act, which becomes fully effective in 2009.
And a board report claims the risk of crime and violence is higher in venues with few or no seats.
But Scottish Licensed Trade Association chief executive Paul Waterson said the proposed standing restrictions were "ridiculous", saying he doesn't believe standing customers are automatically more likely to cause trouble.
The proposed restrictions follow a similar move in Perth and Kinross, as reported in the Publican, and other boards may follow suit. The Perth board, which wants 25 per cent seating, has said it will still allow customers to stand at the bar.
The Scottish capital's board also wants to cut back pub closing time from 1am to midnight Sunday to Thursday - although under the new Act bars can apply to open later.
Board convenor Councillor Marjorie Thomas, who supports the seating move, said that while the Scottish capital has a reputation for a liberal approach to licensing many feel "the situation has gone a bit too far one way". She said some Scottish boards have considered a blanket ban on standing in bars.
Neil Campbell, manager at the city's busy Murrayfield Bar, close to Scottish rugby's Murrayfield Stadium, said: "We've plenty of seats here if we need them but I don't see the point in it at all: you don't get trouble with rugby matches, no matter how many customers there are, and I've had absolutely no problems in the eight years I've been here."
Bar worker Danielle Archibald at The Jinglin' Geordie Bar in Edinburgh's High Street agreed. "I think it's stupid. We're only a small bar, and have about a quarter of the area seated - it would be difficult to bring in more. We've got smokers standing in our outdoors smoking area as well. But who thinks people sitting are better behaved than people standing? I just don't agree."
