Fears that pubs are terrorist target confirmed

The failed bomb attack on late-night venue Tiger Tiger has confirmed the trade's deepest fears that pubs are a prime target for terrorists.

The country was put on critical alert last week after three attempted attacks ­ two in London and one at Glasgow Airport.

An attempted car bomb attack was made on the nightclub shortly before 2am on Friday, June 29. A second car bomb was also diffused in a Park Lane car park. It was originally parked streets away from Haymarket but had been towed away. Luckily, the bombs did not explode and a huge number of casualties were averted.

Novus Leisure, which runs the Tiger Tiger chain, was unable to use its offices because the area had been closed off. The Haymarket venue was re-opened at 4pm on the Saturday.

Steve Richards, chief executive of Novus Leisure said: ³It¹s definitely business as usual for Tiger Tiger. Londoners seems to have shrugged off the incident and people are going about their lives as normal.

³I would also like to quote the police again by stressing that any link between Tiger Tiger and the explosive device discovered on Friday morning is pure speculation. A number of theories are being investigated including the fact that the vehicle was in transit.² Alex Salussolia, managing director of Glendola Leisure which runs a number of venues in Central London including Waxy O ŒConnors, was able to get his premises back open by 2pm on the Friday. He said: ³We had some disruption on the day.I¹m surprised at how robust trading is at the moment. People are still going out and tourists are still in the area.² He added that the event in Glasgow proved that attacks could happen anywhere in the country and were not confined to London.

Mark Hastings, director of communications at the British Beer & Pub Association, said: ³Everyone who works in the pub sector is aware pubs are potential targets. It can happen any place, any time.² London pubs suffered a drop in trade after the July 7 attacks in 2005.