Glass bottles banned in safety move

GLASS bottles have been banned at a Yorkshire Street bar as the campaign to make Oldham town centre safer continues.

Jayne Ganley, licensee at Vogue, has agreed to stop serving drinks in glass bottles.

Her move has been welcomed by Det Sgt John Murdoch, Oldham Division’s Violent Crime Project Co-ordinator, who said: “We have been working with all the clubs and bars in the town centre to tackle some of the issues we have during the night-time.

“Encouraging licensees to serve plastic glasses and bottles rather than glass ones is just one area we are using to try and make the town centre a safer place.

“We have had incidents in the past where glass bottles have been used as weapons, which can result in horrific consequences.

“Hopefully, now one Oldham bar has agreed to replace glass with plastic, it will help prevent any tragic events similar to that of Emma O’Kane’s mindless death in Heywood last Christmas.

“It would be fantastic if some of the others followed Vogue.”

Jayne Ganley added: “The welfare of my staff and customers is paramount and I will do all I can to help improve the damaged image of Oldham’s town centre.”

The town centre was recently the focus of a hard-hitting 24-hour operation which saw police and Trading Standards officers visiting bars and clubs to enforce the responsible drinking message.

Licensees were also issued with Think Safe, Drink Safe posters to display to encourage members of the public to drink sensibly.