Licensee calls for tougher action on fake IDs

A licensee who seized fake IDs from under-age drinkers in his pub has slammed the local police for failing to act.

Keith Bannister, who is licensee of three establishments in Staveley, near Chesterfield was forced to retain the fake IDs from a group of young people who were trying to buy alcohol in all three of his pubs. The group of young men had tried to buy alcohol from Harley's Bar, the Pod, and finally Beeches Brook, where he himself retained the IDs before calling the police.

But he was upset at the time it took for police to arrive, saying they did not follow up on his claim for over an hour.

He said: "I was testing them on their response, and after five phone calls, and an hour later, no one had come.

"Their attitude was that it wasn't a priority, but I was reporting the lads for deception, forgery, and trying to break the law."

James Allen, spokesman for Derbyshire Constabulary, admitted that incidents have to be prioritised, particularly at weekends when resources are stretched.

"If it was a Friday or Saturday night, we are dealing with a lot of other licensing issues, many involving violence. We are dictated to by other incidents, and have to prioritise," he said.

Mr Bannister has also written to his local licensing officer asking for clarification on where licensees stand legally with regards to seizing fake IDs.

PC Ian Godfrey, the licensing officer at Chesterfield Police, admitted that the extent to which licensees can forcibly take IDs from people was currently a grey area.

He said: "The general advice would be that, if someone doesn't want to give it to you, you'd be hard pushed to forcibly take it. I'd hate to give the advice of 'take the IDs, as it could be a potential can of worms."