Footie fury for Lincoln pubs
Furious hosts in Lincoln have been left hundreds of pounds out of pocket after police restricted their opening hours and forced them to hire doorstaff during a local football match.
Licensees accused police of double standards because some bars and off-licences escaped without restrictions during Saturday's play-off clash between Lincoln City and Grimsby Town.
Police told pubs near the Lincoln City ground not to open before kick-off at midday.
They would also have to hire two door supervisors - at £22 an hour each - if they wanted to open between midday and 5pm.
Licensees said police threatened to close them for 24 hours - and "come after their licence" - if they did not comply.
Ken Fraser-Rowe, of the George and Dragon, decided not to open because the cost of door staff was too high.
He reckoned the pub lost £500 worth of trade.
Morisa Gibb, of the City Vaults, which missed out on £2,000 on Saturday, said: "The police said they would take us to court and take our licence off us if we didn't comply. I think that was quite disgusting."
However, Superintendent Lee Freeman said police and hosts came to a "voluntary agreement".
He said the venues chosen for closure were the "likely places that home and away fans might go to for a drink". Freeman said the strategy was "immensely successful" and there were no arrests.
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Your comments on this story.
Robert Feal-Martinez, 18/05/2006This is sadly becoming all too familiar and was to be expected when The DCMS made such a pigs ear of the Guidance and subsequent advice. LA's and The Police, know the DCMS will just shrug their shoulders when these abuses by Police and LA's take place, saying things like the Guidance is clear. As far as this situation is concerned there was no power by the Police to do what they did hence they are hiding behind 'Voluntary'. I know as a former police officer what 'voluntary' is protrayed as meaning. The licensees would have been left in no doubt about extra police, visits etc. If the Police had wanted pubs to close they were obliged to get an order from the court. Immediate closure orders can not be used pre-emptively. It is always amazing how 'officials' are misquoted or misunderstood. readers will recall the 'drug swab' testing at pubs in Lewis, Sussex. I contacted Sussex Police Headquarters pointing out they had no legal power to do this, or to assume if someone left the line, they could be arrested. The Sergeant I spoke to agreed and what staggered me is that they had no knowledge of what was happening in Lewis and it certainly wasn't Force Policy. A similar thing happened with a pub in Wales that was closed down following what clearly was a 'set up' raid, where a small quantity of drugs were found on a customer and 2 under age girls allegeably bought drinks. The pub was closed even though the incident didn't fit the criteria under the Act and the police tried to get the Licensee to agree all sorts of conditions. I assisted the local LVA with advice based on The Act. As a consequence, the underage drinking simply disappeared, the 'drug dealer' were cautioned for personal possession and the Licensee exonerated but 4 weeks too late. It has cost this man tens of thousands of pounds in lost income, as the matter was leaked to the press by a local councillor, on the licensing committee. They even tried to impose conditions without a review. The Licensing Act is still a complete and utter shambles, and frankly no one cares, the trade bodies, HMG, etc have 'moved on', as though the troubles of the past 3 years no longer exist. Any wonder organisations like www.thebigdebate.org, Freedom to Choose is gaining so much support from ordinary Licensees. With the help of MA we will continue to highlight these issues until 'someone' takes notice.
Peter Ratcliffe via email 19/05/2006"Having read your article about pubs paying £22.00 per hour per door supervisor in Lincoln, I am writing to let you now that they are being seriously ripped off. I supply door supervisors to the entertainment industry within the London area and charge £15.00 plus VAT. Any security company charging £22.00 per hour is taking advantage of the current shortage of door supervisors in the industry. I am sure there are other companies that don't charge this exhorbitant rate."
