Notts Police force pubs to close doors
Nottinghamshire Police is the latest force to temporarily stop pubs selling alcohol for relatively minor licence breaches.
Last week the Morning Advertiser reported that officers in Lincoln ordered two pubs to stop all licensable activities, including alcohol sales, until breaches of licence conditions had been rectified. The bars, Essence and Quayside, closed temporarily.
The move caused controversy, with MA legal editor Peter Coulson saying Section 19 Closure Notices can't be used in this way.
The Morning Advertiser has now learnt that Nottinghamshire Police also used Section 19 to order venues to temporarily stop licensable activity.
The action against Romans, in Mansfield, was for failing to keep CCTV footage for 31 days and not displaying a notice that details its public entertainment licence.
Breaches at Martha's, also in Mansfield, included not having a qualified first aider, not displaying a keep-quiet sign, a lack of drugs strategy and displaying a photocopy of the summary licence rather than the original one.
In Sherwood, the Crown at Southwell temporarily closed for failing to maintain its CCTV. The Jolly Roger, a private members club in Ollerton, briefly shut after being found to be breaching its members-only policy.
All the bars reopened with-in 24 hours of the action.
Police said five other Sherwood pubs were visited, with three given verbal warnings for minor breaches of their licence conditions.
A spokesman for Nottinghamshire police said: "Nottinghamshire Police, in common with other forces, has been urged by the Home Office and senior officers within the force to use powers granted under section 19 of the Criminal Justice and Police Act 2001.
"Under section 19, a closure notice can be served within 24 hours of finding a breach of a premises licence, with the effect that between seven days and six months of service of the notice, police can apply to local magistrates to close the premises if the breaches have not been rectified.
"If premises stay open whilst breaching their licence conditions they are advised that they are acting otherwise than in accordance with their licence and are committing a criminal offence under section 136 of the Licencing Act 2003 unless they cease licenceable activities immediately. In practice, the premises may shut to avoid criminal prosecution. It was on advice from the police that the two premises named chose voluntarily to close and address their licensing issues."
