Police urged to help pubs over fake ID
Police chiefs are being urged to issue national guidelines to help licensees deal with the issue of confiscating fake and false ID.
The issue follows an Essex licensee being told by police that staff have no rights to seize documents from people trying to enter the venue illegally.
But just down the road in Surrey, police are actively encouraging licensees to confiscate forged or borrowed documents.
Nick Harmston, manager of Marston's venue Que Pasa in Chelmsford and chairman of the town's Pub Link scheme, was recently told by Essex police they would no longer take the passports, driving licences and forged IDs he seizes every weekend.
He said: "One of the four main licensing objectives is to protect children from harm. Our view is that we are doing this by stopping them entering licensed venues.
"We take the IDs and put them in the safe but the police will no longer take them from us.
"What we really need is a change in the law so we can confiscate faked and borrowed ID in the same way we can confiscate drugs."
However Harmston has been warned he could leave himself open to being sued if he carries on.
"If people need a passport that has been borrowed from a brother or sister we will of course arrange to make sure it gets back to the right person but many parents have thanked me for taking documents from people who should not have them."
He has now taken the issue up with West Chelmsford MP Simon Burns who discovered Surrey Police encourage licensees to take fake ID.
Robert Humphreys, chairman of the Proof of Age Standards Scheme, said he would raise the matter with the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO).
"There is an issue around the proper procedure and I have suggested it would be wise for appropriate guidelines to be drawn up and issued and I will take that up with ACPO.
"On one hand there is the issue of whose property it is but on the other there is the issue of a potential offence having been committed which may encourage people attempting to buy drink when they are not legally entitled to," he said.
ACPO confirmed there is currently no national guidelines on the issue and that the matter is down to individual forces.
Martin Reed, licensing officer at Essex Police, said: "Licensees have been advised to seek their own legal advice on how they should act but they may wish to consider the possible consequences of continuing to seize these documents."
