West Country pubs pass responsible trading test

Pubs in the West Country have been praised by a senior police officer for trading responsibly.

Chief Constable Colin Port of Avon & Somerset Police said pubs and bars were clearly committed to improving the safety record of the region's night-time economy.

The chief constable's comments follow the latest stage of the force's Operation Relentless campaign, aimed at catching more criminals, boosting businesses and increasing confidence in the police.

Almost 500 licensed premises were visited during the Friday-night exercise, which included test purchasing and checks for underage sales and drugs in pubs.

The vast majority of pubs passed the test with flying colours, although three were temporarily closed due to sales to under-18s and drugs.

Most encouragingly pubs showed a vast improvement among their doorstaff. Of 90 venues visited in Bristol, only two were found to be using door workers without the new Security Industry Authority qualification - compared to 75 when a similar number of venues were visited in March.

Chief Constable Colin Port said: "This positive trend clearly demonstrates the commitment of all relevant partners towards making the nightlife of the Avon and Somerset force area safer for all.

"There was an extremely positive feeling on the streets last night and the majority of people seemed very supportive of what we were doing. This in itself is very encouraging, as a key element to us succeeding in making the streets safer is to have the support of the community."

Police spokesman Darren Baine added: "Credit where credit's due. We were expecting far more pubs would fail this test, but these results show pubs have been playing ball. "We take licensing issues very seriously and we will take action against those who don't play the game."