A Hastings licensee plans to fight hard-line new conditions at his pub — including a peak-hours glass ban — that now apply to six bars on one street.
New conditions forcing venues to abide by Challenge 25 and banning glass containers after 9pm on Fridays and Saturdays, plus bank holidays and other "special occasions", were imposed at three freehold pubs in George Street at licence review last week.
Street drinking after 10pm has also been banned and the personal licence holder must supervise the drinking area at peak times. Similar conditions were placed on three Shepherd Neame tenanted pubs in George Street last month. The council came under fire for reviewing the licences en masse to force the restrictions.
Paddy Piggott said he planned to appeal the con-ditions imposed at his George Street pub, the Dragon's Bar, last week.
He accused the council of ignoring licensees' arguments. For example, just one glassing occurred in the area in the past two years, on a bank holiday when bars had agreed not to use glass containers anyway.
"Everything we put before them they ignored," said Piggott. "All the decisions were made before we walked through the door."
John Wilson, chairman of the Licensing Committee, said: "There is simply no truth in the accusation that we make our minds up before hearing all the evidence during a committee.
"We listen very carefully to the evidence provided by all parties. Questions too can be asked of all representatives, making sure we are very clear on all the issues before making a decision."
He said that many licence conditions were "about preventing problems before they occur".