Hosts accuse police of hours vendetta'

Licensees at a west Wales pub have accused police of deliberately exaggerating the problem of crime on their premises, causing the venue to have its opening hours cut last week.

They claim the "vendetta" against them now means that hosts in their area are less likely to seek police advice for fear of being targeted when their licences come up for renewal.

At a licensing committee meeting for the renewal of the pub's Public Entertainment Licence last week, police claimed the Three Mariners in Tenby was responsible for 13% of all crimes in the town during 2004. The committee cut the pub's hours from 1am on Monday to Saturday, to 11pm on Monday to Thursday, 12.30am on Friday and 1am on Saturday.

Punch lessees Keith and Lisa May dismissed many of the incidents among the 34 crimes police said were directly linked to the pub. Lisa said that on three occasions, the licensees called the police for advice when they suspected drugs were being taken on the premises but these calls were recorded as "crimes".

Tenby's Inspector Les Clarke said: "The hearing into the application for the entertainments licence at the Three Mariners lasted seven hours and all of the issues were examined in detail."