Crackdown vow on cheap drink

DRINKS promotions like these could soon be a thing of the past

CUT-PRICE booze and all you can drink promotions could soon be a thing of the past following a council review of all town centre bars and clubs.

Oldham Council’s Trading Standards department will review the licenses of 22 venues in a bid to clamp down on alcohol related crime and anti-social behaviour.

Brownz, in Yorkshire Street, was temporarily closed last week following an emergency review after three people were stabbed outside the club in the early hours.

In December, the drinks industry withdrew its own voluntary social responsibility code which sought to limit heavily discounted booze and all you can drink deals.

Under the Licensing Act 2003, councils can impose strict conditions on how drinks promotions are run but cannot ban them altogether or control prices. If approved by the council’s licensing committee, bars running special promotions will have to adhere to strict conditions.

These include a “post office” style queuing system, no boozing when stood in the queue, only two drinks per customer at any one time, extra door staff, at least seven days notice of the promotion to the licensing authority and police and funding for extra police officers to patrol the club and its surrounding areas for the duration of the promotion.

Cabinet member for environment and infrastructure, Councillor Mark Alcock, said: “This is positive action to address the whole issue of alcohol pricing in Oldham.

“We have decided to start this process in order to ensure that the hundreds of people who come to Oldham every weekend enjoy a pleasant and safe night out.”

This is the first time since the new licensing laws came into force five years ago that a local authority has reviewed all the licences in a town at the same tim.

Councillor Alcock added: “I see it as a sensible solution to helping us ensure that all bars and clubs in the town centre are able to operate on a level playing field.”

The applications for review, which were submitted yesterday, now enter a statutory 28-day consultation period with the traders affected and other interested parties. At the end of that period, review hearings will be held and a decision made on whether or not to apply the revised conditions.

The restrictions would be applied between the peak drinking times of 9pm to 5am when town centre bars and clubs are at their busiest.

Trading Standards officers have gathered evidence for the reviews including crime reports.




Bars, pubs and clubs under scrutiny



Venues affected are Tokyo Project, Hare & Hounds, Last Orders, Liquid & Envy, Bamboogy, Vogue, Walkabout, Cuba Cuba, Brownz, Up Steps Inn, Squires Knott, Maloney’s, Number 15, Old Mess House, Aruba, Escoba, Livingstones, Blu 62, The Lounge, Buck & Union, The Castle and Pickwicks.