Debt collectors allowed to take cash from tills

Pubs and clubs in Scotland that run into serious financial trouble can be raided by debt collectors, under UK law which became effective north of the border this week.

The change in Scottish bankruptcy law - which brings Scotland in line with England and Wales - means officers can seize cash from tills in a bid to recoup money once a 14-day warning period has expired.

They can also break into premises under the rules, but they cannot take cash held on the person.

The Scottish Licensed Trade Association (SLTA) sees the rule as only posing a threat in extreme cases, but feel it as an extra worry to under-pressure pubs.

SLTA chief executive Paul Waterson said: "It's one more piece of bad news at a time when the industry is reeling from closures.

"There's a worry it could be used as a lever to force people in dispute over rates payments to settle. Previously some councils wanted licensing boards to deem you not fit and proper if you were in arrears."

But Patrick Browne, chief executive of the Scottish Beer and Pub Association, said it's unlikely a law aimed at shops as well as licensed premises will have this effect.

"Licensing boards tend to have more subtle ways of applying pressure," he said.

Bur Glasgow publican Billy Gold, owner of Hielan Jessie pub in the city's east end, said: "I'm 100 per cent against it. I know places that are walking the tightrope every week.

"We are managing well enough, but every week there's the formula of volume, profit and sales to keep up - if one element slips you're in trouble. Better to keep endangered businesses open than find new ways of closing them down."