Pubs placed on high terror alert
Pubs, bars and clubs have been reminded to be extra vigilant in the wake of last week's foiled terrorist plot to blow up aircraft.
There is a growing fear that venues where large volumes of people gather may well be chosen as soft targets for extremists.
We are not being alarmist and going into a spin but trying to find sensible and workable solutions Paul Smith, executive director BEDA.
The IRA targeted pubs in Birmingham and Guildford in 1974 and more recently militant groups bombed a Bali nightclub in 2002.
"The fact is, pubs represent a very tempting target for this new breed of bloody-minded extremists," said Union pubco boss Stephen Oliver.
"Lots of people enjoying themselves, guards down, men and women together, their pleasure lubricated by alcohol.
All these combine to provoke an opportunity to those for whom normal Western lifestyles are anathema.
"God knows, I hope I'm wrong, but is it a case of when not if we will have an atrocity perpetrated in a British pub?"
The National Counter Terrorism Security Office (NaCTSO) held its first meeting with trade representatives three weeks ago to discuss how to deal with the threat of a terrorist attack.
The group hopes to produce a guidance document specifically for the entertainment industry.
Bar Entertainment & Dance Association executive director Paul Smith said one concern was that people could plant materials in outlets during the day when security was less prevalent than in the evening.
"The key issue is to be vigilant," he said. "Staff must be trained and anything suspicious reported. We are not being alarmist and going into a spin but trying to find sensible and workable solutions."
Former policeman and National Pubwatch honorary secretary Malcolm Eidmans added: "I am afraid the general feeling will be it is a matter of when and not if. Pubs have been a frequent target for terrorists.
There are steps you can take to make premises harder to target like tougher entry controls and fixed sealed seats like on underground trains."
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