Legal advice
16-Jun-2016 By Poppleston Allen
As the case of the offensive Hillsborough tee shirt shows, operators struggle with where to draw the line with unacceptable customer behaviour - and when to act. Legal experts Poppleston Allen offers advice.
Pubs code
29-Apr-2015 By Michelle Perrett
Pubco threatens legal action over MRO.
23-Oct-2014 By James Wallin
Pubcos have ended their silence on the Government’s statutory code proposals, branding them potentially illegal and saying they would create “uncertainty and disruption” across the sector.
22-May-2014 By James Wallin
A customer barred from all pubs in his hometown has vowed to take his fight with Pubwatch to the European Court of Human Rights.
26-Sep-2013 By Gurjit Degun and Michelle Perrett
Punch Taverns has labelled the Government’s plans for a statutory code for the pubco-tenant relationship a breach of its human rights.
30-Mar-2011 By Graham Ridout
JD Wetherspoon has been praised for its corporate responsibility strategy for the eleventh year in a row. The pubco is included in the...
22-Mar-2011 By Gurjit Degun
An ex-Brakspear licensee has vowed to continue her case against the beer tie despite being evicted from her pub. Mira Bateman, of Plowden Arms in...
Tap into WaterAid nears £20k mark
09-Mar-2011 By Matt Eley Matt
Cash raised by pubs in support of The Publican's chosen charity WaterAid is nearing the £20,000 mark. In just under a year since we linked up with...
Edinburgh pub wins fight over loo capacity
25-Oct-2010 By James Wilmore
An Edinburgh pub has won a landmark legal battle against the city's council after the venue was ordered to cut its capacity over of a lack of female...
Scots review case could set legal precedent
07-Oct-2010
A licensing board has exposed an anomaly in the Scottish Licensing Act by ruling that it wasn't fair to judge a premises review it had called. Fife...
21-Sep-2010 By Phil Mellows
The pub industry may have to threaten legal action over the breaches of human rights contained in the government's licensing proposals.
03-Aug-2010 By John Harrington
Pubs could be denied basic legal rights under the Government's plan to overhaul licensing, says the BBPA.
BBPA: Licensing shake-up risks denying pubs basic legal rights
02-Aug-2010 By James Wilmore
Trade chief Brigid Simmonds has sent a strongly-worded letter to Home Secretary Theresa May warning pubs face losing basic legal protections, over...
GMB hits back at BBPA over legal action threat
16-Mar-2010 By James Wilmore
The GMB has branded the British Beer & Pub Association's (BBPA's) threat of legal action as "bullying" and a "crude attempt" to stop the union...
19-Mar-2009 By MA reporter
Blackpool smoke ban rebel Hamish Howitt has failed in a High Court claim that the ban is unlawful and a breach of human rights. Howitt - landlord of...
06-Feb-2009 By Peter Coulson
MA legal editor Peter Coulson considers the case of a Pubwatch ban being taken to the High Court again.
05-Sep-2008 By Peter Coulson
News that the persistent young man banned by Buckingham Pubwatch wants to try and persuade the Court of Appeal to overturn a judge's previous ruling...
21-Aug-2008 By Andrew Pring
Amidst some rather bizarre human-rights legislation, it's refreshing to see common sense protecting licensees and customers from troublemakers, says MA editor Andrew Pring
Hamish Champ: The German smoking ban and why the nation's 'yoof' eschews British boozers
04-Aug-2008 By Hamish Champ
I had an interesting chat with the boss of a smallish pubco last week. Sitting in his office based deep in the North of England we discussed the...
Hamish Champ: Banning booze on the Tube is a good thing
02-Jun-2008 By Hamish Champ
Part of me wishes I'd been on the London Underground on Saturday night. Thousands of people drank an assortment of beer, wine and cocktails to mark...
15-May-2008 By Ewan Turney
Smoke rebel Dave West has been hit with costs and fines of nearly £8,000 for flouting the ban. West and his company Jewelite Trading were found...
14-May-2008 By Ewan Turney
The long awaited showdown between smoke ban rebel Dave West and Westminster council gets underway today. Owner of HeyJo club West (pictured),...
Pubwatch in High Court
01-May-2008 By Tony Halstead THals22851@aol.com
Lawyers claim ban infringes human rights A pubwatch group is being taken to the High Court by an individual who claims a banning order has breached...
Q&A
01-May-2008
Betting on pool games Q. We have had a discussion in the bar about people betting on pool matches here. I have been told that this is legal in pubs,...
18-Apr-2008 By John Harrington
Installation of cameras in women's loo is aimed at tackling drug abuse
CCTV in toilet cubicles
17-Apr-2008 By John Harrington john.harrington@william-reed.co.u
Installation of cameras in women's loo is aimed at tackling drug abuse CCTV has been fitted in the toilet cubicles of a York pub. In a bold move to...
Pubwatch under pressure
28-Feb-2008
In the past I have expressed concerns about the potential problems of "cartels" where groups get together to set minimum standards, or minimum...
Pubwatch fears on human rights move
21-Feb-2008 By John Harrington john.harrington@william-reed.co.u
Fears are growing that human rights group Liberty is looking to mount challenges against pubwatch bans. Liberty has written to all 43 police forces...
21-Feb-2008 By John Harrington
Fears are growing that human rights group Liberty is looking to mount challenges against pubwatch bans. Liberty has written to all 43 police forces...
11-Dec-2007
HeyJo club owner Dave West faces magistrates today on charges of flouting the smoking ban
11-Dec-2007
The case against smoke ban rebel Dave West has been adjourned until March. Owner of HeyJo club West (pictured), reportedly worth £100m, and...
Smoke-rebel club owner summonsed
22-Nov-2007 By Ewan Turney ewan.turney@william-reed.co.uk
Smoke-ban rebel Dave West has been served with a court summons by Westminster City Council. The owner of the HeyJo club and designated premises...
21-Nov-2007 By Ewan Turney
Smoke rebel Hamish Howitt has urged the authorities to put him behind bars. Howitt, owner of Delboys Sports Bar which incorporates Happy Scots...
21-Nov-2007
Smoke rebel Hamish Howitt faces his second court appearance on charges of flouting the ban
Howitt's bars off the market
20-Nov-2007 By James Wilmore
Smoke ban rebel Hamish Howitt is taking his bars off the market and has vowed to take his fight to the European Court of Human Rights. Howitt,...
14-Nov-2007
Smoke ban rebel club HeyJo has been served with a court summons by Westminster council. Flamboyant owner Dave West (pictured), reportedly worth...
03-Aug-2007 By Joe Lutrario
The owner of a Mayfair private members club is still encouraging his customers to smoke while he waits for his day in court
12-Jun-2007 By Iain O'Neil
Breastfeeding 'rights' proposal
17-May-2007 By Peter Coulson
There's a great vogue at present for "naming and shaming" in many different areas - food hygiene, polluters, rogue traders and so forth. All this is...
03-Apr-2007 By Iain O'Neil
Police say they will be too "bureaucratic and burdensome" to use.
Pubwatches advised to insure against threat of legal action
01-Mar-2007 By John Harrington john.harrington@william-reed.co.u
Pubwatches have been ad-vised to consider taking out indemnity insurance to protect themselves against being sued. This follows recent cases in which...
Police should not exceed their powers
22-Feb-2007
Along with many others, I do not think for a moment that we live in a police state. There are far too many checks and balances to ensure that...
Pubwatch ban contested by Liberty
23-Nov-2006
Pressure group Liberty has defended its decision to back the case of a man who is trying to fight his pubwatch ban by claiming it breached his human...
Pubwatch in clash over human rights with campaigners Liberty
16-Nov-2006
A Nottinghamshire pubwatch scheme is heading for a clash with human rights campaigners Liberty after banning a customer for alleged abusive...
22-Jun-2006 By Peter Coulson
No licence to display QCan we be prosecuted if we are not displaying our premises licence because we have not yet received it from the council?...
27-Apr-2006
Peter Eveleigh, Riverside Inn, Bradford-on-Avon, Wiltshire How many times have we attended pubwatch meetings to hear of an incident warranting a ban...
15-Mar-2006 By Iain O'Neil
Swallow chairman says controls are needed but ban goes too far
Licensees' party set to fight smoke-ban
12-Jan-2006
A political party led by two Scottish licensees is backing the bid to challenge the Scots smoking ban by appealing over human rights violations. The...
Smoking ban likely as
06-Oct-2005
DCMS backs stub-out by John Harrington The Government is more likely than ever to push for a complete pub smoking ban after it emerged that the...
What the Sunday papers say
20-Jun-2004
David Blunkett has warned the Cabinet that Britain faces a summer of drink-fuelled rioting amid increasing concern over "yob culture". The Home...
