Worthing Pubwatch chair pleas for Sussex Police to re-join its scheme

Diane Guest urged the force to set aside their differences and to ‘sit around the table’ with its members after she claimed a Worthing venue was denied access to photographs of a troublemaker amid concerns they might appear on the Worthing Pubwatch website and warned that the safety of staff and the public could be put at risk.

She told the Publican's Morning Advertiser​: “When the security company and the premises later asked for a photo from the police to identify him because they couldn’t see his face, they were refused the photo because they [police] didn’t want it to go onto the Pubwatch system.”

However, the force claimed the photographs could not be circulated without an ‘information sharing agreement’ being in place as it would have been a “breach of data protection laws.”

In a statement, Sussex Police confirmed an incident had taken place involving a man who had tried to access a licensed premises in Worthing but was refused entry. The force said he returned a short time later with his face covered, was carrying what was believed to be a knuckle duster and was detained by door staff until police arrived and arrested him.

Jean Irving, force licensing and public safety manager said: “His face was not obscured on the first occasion and therefore a photo could have been obtained from CCTV and shared between licensed premises, which is usual practice.”

Irving said it was “common practice” for licensees to share pictures of troublemakers between themselves and added that pubs and clubs in areas that do not have a Pubwatch scheme use CCTV and social media to obtain photos of those banned from their venues, which they share with their door staff.

Licensing specialist Peter Coulson said: “At the recent National Pub Watch Conference in Birmingham, top policeman Adrian Lee stressed the importance of a close working relationship between the police and local Pubwatch groups in combating pub violence. Passing on information, including photographs, of known troublemakers is a key element in this.”

Guest, who has been chair of Worthing Pub watch for 10 years and was re-elected in March said hoped the one-time “excellent working relationship” between Pubwatch and Sussex Police, could be rekindled

Irving said: “There are no plans at this time to resurrect this specific scheme, but we continue to have very positive relationships with individual licensees in Worthing.”