Licensee's polycarbonate plea

Jane Hawkey, of the Beach nightclub in Newquay, is also urging all breweries and drinks brands to make their product ranges available in the safer polycarbonate versions. She has introduced polycarbonate-only into her premises after two glassing incidents at her nightclub and a licence review.

Hawkey will also install an ID scanner to share information on difficult clients with other bars and nightclubs in the area.

“There is evidence of far too many glass attacks across the UK,” she said. “The incidents that occur are seldom the fault of the publican.

“However, they can occur on your premises so I firmly believe the Government should put new, pro-active legislation in place to make polycarbonate bottles a requirement across the industry — and this should also include off-licence sales.”

Hawkey added: “It is important, though, that people understand that this is not an easy switch-over. There are only a certain number of brands and breweries that supply their popular products in polycarbonate bottles, as glass is still way cheaper, so this change requires us to review our entire stock and create new relationships with suppliers who take the same responsible attitude that we do.”

Her move has the support of Newquay business im-provement district manager Eve Wooldridge, who said: “We fully back these new measures from the Beach and would actively encourage all other licensees with-in our area to consider similar action.”

The issue of polycarbonate glasses has raised concerns in the trade before, with many saying that it is too costly for all pubs to use.

A British Beer & Pub Association spokesman said: “We wouldn’t want to see a blanket approach to plastic. All pubs, bars and restaurants should carry out risk assessments to help them decide if they should go down this road. Where it’s sensible, plastic should be used, but it is certainly not right for all venues, all of the time.”