The closure notices issued to pubs in Denbigh and Ruthin have been amended.
This unusual step has been taken after local councillors received representations from the community that the planned closures would not just affect the pubs concerned but other businesses in the area. The impact of closing so many licensed premises in neighbouring rural towns during the Easter weekend has received considerable publicity; a possible result being that the many visitors to the towns who would normally use licensed premises and other businesses, such as cafés, taxis, would stay away on one of the busiest weekends of the year.
Closure notices were issued to 11 pubs in Denbigh and Ruthin caught persistently selling alcohol to young people. A closure notice offers premises operators the option to close for 48 hours as an alternative to being prosecuted. The maximum fine is £20,000. Those premises concerned have acknowledged wrong-doing and had accepted that closure was inevitable.
Those pubs affected will now been offered the option to close all day Friday, 9 April and all day Saturday, 10 April 2010 – a total of 48 hours.
Explanatory letters and further notices will be delivered to premises concerned over the next few days.
Roly Schwarz, Community Safety Enforcement Manager for Denbighshire said, “This is an unusual step. This action, and subsequent decisions about closing times, was taken in partnership with North Wales Police, but we are a ’listening partnership’. The representations raised a concern that other premises that had done nothing wrong could be adversely affected on one of the busiest weekends of the year. This decision is not made lightly but the number of premises involved here makes for unusual circumstances and could give out a message that the towns themselves were closed for Easter.”
Chief Inspector Andrew Williams from the Central Division of North Wales Police said, “We are obviously aware of the publicity surrounding the closures of licensed premises over the Easter weekend. The Licensing Authority instigated the action in accordance with the legislation and North Wales Police fully support them, as our partners, in our joint aim to ensure licensees act at all times to safeguard children. The Authority’s decision to defer the closures is also fully supported by the police. The reasoning for the closure action is simple. Following recent joint agency test purchase operations, young people under the age of 18 years were directly served with alcohol whilst inside the various premises. This happened not once but on two and in some cases, three separate occasions. As the public are aware, drunken people in general cause significant crime and disorder problems nationally. In particular, drunken people who are younger than 18 years are particularly vulnerable to crime and other associated health and social problems so it is imperative that all licensees take a pro-active approach in protecting them. The premises operators do not have to accept these types of closure orders and they can elect instead to have their cases heard at court; the choice is entirely their own.”
All the premises concerned have all agreed to undergo training so that the risk of future underage sales is reduced.
The premises are the Hope and Anchor, the Old Vaults, the Eagles, the Kings Arms, the Plough and Beaky’s in Denbigh; Park Place, the Corporation Arms, the Myddleton Arms and the Farmers Arms in Ruthin and the White Horse in Llanfair DC.
