Lancashire's best bars recognised
THE safest pubs, bars and clubs in the Lancashire towns of Blackburn and Darwen were honoured when the Best Bar None scheme hit the region.
The awards ceremony, in the Red Rose Suite of Blackburn Rovers' Ewood Park stadium, marked the first time police in Blackburn and Darwen - and only the second time the scheme had bee run in Lancashire.
Of the 40 pubs, bars and clubs in the town centres, 19 applied for the standard with 14 successfully passing the Best Bar None accreditation.
Bar Java located in the heart of Darwen won the overall prize as well as the best bar.
Thwaites owned, The Millstone, also Darwen, won best pub, while Blackburn's Club Tropicana took the best club prize.
In addition, Heaven and Hell won the public award which was voted for by over 3,000 revellers who were asked which they thought was the best.
Julia Bracewell, licensee of Bar Java, said: "The awards are a brilliant idea. And we are delighted to have won. It just shows the good practice that is going through Blackburn and Darwen and that we do not just open up and close, but put a lot of effort in between to make it safe. The competition was fierce so winning really does mean a lot to us."
Chief Superintendent David Mallaby, police commander for Blackburn and Darwen, said: "Blackburn and Darwen are actually very safe places and are getting safer. These awards show the public that when they go out and see the accreditation certificates, they know they are going somewhere where the management take their welfare seriously."
