Midnight glass ban for Glasgow pubs
Pubs in Glasgow look set to face a midnight glass ban if they plan any extended hours this Christmas.
Licensing officials have told pub operators that if they want to open for extra hours over the festive season they must use plastic or toughened glass from midnight.
According to the Glasgow Herald, the move means that even drinks sold before midnight on New Year's Eve will have to be decanted into plastic after the bells have rung.
From next year all the city's pubs which have entertainment's licences, open after midnight or have a history of glassing attacks will face a glass ban but this the temporary Christmas measure will reportedly affect ALL venues.
Michael McHugh, Strathclyde president of the Scottish Licensed Trade Association, told the paper the preparation of hundreds of bars had been thrown into disarray by the move.
He said: "This was supposed to come into force next January. Even then, it would only apply to pubs which have been granted very occasional extensions ... for most of our members that's around Christmas.
"The upshot is that we've now got a few weeks to prepare for something they believed they wouldn't need to do for almost a year.
"It's chaos. Orders have been made and there's little or no plastic vessels or bottles on the market."
Patrick Brown, of the Scottish Beer and Pub Association, which mounted a legal challenge to the glass ban, said: "We are taking advice from our lawyers on what action, if any, can be taken to reverse this decision."
However, Glasgow licensing board convener Gordon Macdiarmid said: "This wasn't decided last week. It was mentioned at the October board meeting to give people the opportunity to prepare for their extensions. The people on the ground coming in to return their applications don't seem to have a problem with this so I really don't understand the concerns."
