Bromley council has reviewed the alcohol licences of three businesses following a request by trading standards after they were caught selling alcohol to a 15-year-old girl.
Trading standards officers carried out the test purchase operations in August last year using the under-age girl who was sold a bottle of wine from each of Jerry’s at 69 High Street Penge, Swami News trading as Sunny’s at 119 High Street Penge and Kent House Off Licence at 198 Kent House Road Beckenham.
All three businesses were warned that further sales of alcohol to under age children would be likely to put their businesses in jeopardy of losing their alcohol licences.
Each business was required to adopt additional conditions recommended by the trading standards application. These included a ‘Challenge 25′ policy to ensure that anyone wanting to buy alcohol but looking under 25 would be required to produce identification.
Other conditions included keeping a refusal register and ensuring staff were appropriately trained.
In addition, Sunny’s off-licence volunteered to stop selling high strength beer and cider to discourage street drinking in the Penge area – a designated alcohol exclusion zone.
Executive member for public protection and safety Tim Stevens said: “We work with small businesses to ensure they fulfil their obligations as licence holders and in these cases all the businesses had been previously warned about the test purchase operations.
“Trading standards in Bromley also provide accredited training for small businesses who sell age restricted products and we will be insisting that all staff from these premises attend and pass the test before they are allowed to sell alcohol.”
(The Licensing Act 2003 sets out a series of objectives which a licensing authority is required to promote. These are:
prevention of crime and disorder
public safety
prevention of public nuisance
protection of children from harm
The ‘protection of children from harm’ includes preventing the sale and supply of alcohol to children. The law sets out the framework that aims to achieve this objective.
The premises licence holder, the designated premises supervisor (who must be a personal licence holder), any other personal licence holders and staff within on-licensed and off-licensed premises should all be aware of their obligations under the Licensing Act 2003 relating to the prevention of sales of alcohol to children.
It is the premises licence holder and designated premises supervisor’s responsibility to keep within the law and to have systems in place that will act as a ‘due diligence’ defence to an allegation that a sale of alcohol has taken place to an individual under the minimum legal age.
A trader who sells alcohol to an individual who is under 18 could be prosecuted and receive a fine of up to £5,000. A personal licence to sell alcohol could be at risk. The premises licence can be reviewed which could lead to it being suspended or revoked. Where persistent sales of alcohol to underage individuals take place, the premises licence holder could receive a fine of up to £20,000 or a premises closure notice could be issued.) (Source: Bromley council press release)
CROYDON HEART TOWN TO ‘RAMP UP THE RED’
Croydon Heart Town will be ramping up the red to help the fight against the UK’s single biggest killer, coronary heart disease, next week.
Families, individuals, groups, local organisations and businesses are being invited to join in the “Ramp up the Red” day on Friday February 7th during National Heart Month.
People are asked to take red to the extreme and donate money to the British Heart Foundation.
The event is a key date in Croydon’s Heart Town programme, which aims to tackle and raise awareness of heart disease.
The council will be encouraging staff to wear red for the day and make a donation of their choice.
To help people organise their events – whether at work, in a local community space or for family and friends – packs will be available to download from the charity’s website at www.rampupthered.org.uk, along with a host of ideas on how to take part.
The deadline for signing up is 31 January.
Cllr Margaret Mead, cabinet member for adult services and health, said: “This is Croydon’s chance to come together and raise money to fight heart disease.
“As a Heart Town, we want to get the message out there loud and clear about the ways you can improve your heart health and lead a happier, longer life.
“So please get involved in this fun idea and help Croydon to ramp up the red.”
The British Heart Foundation TV advert for Ramp Up The Red can be found at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W2mFMnFqH9Y (Source: Croydon council press release)
CHAMBER OF COMMERCE’S THANKS
“Crystal Palace residents are also very grateful to Plumbase for their fantastic window which has become such a Crystal Palace institution and gives Regent Street a run for its money – and I personally thought the green bottles Christmas tree in the Braziliana cafe on Westow Hikll were very stylish this year too.”
NIGHTCLUB’S LICENCE REVOKED AFTER THREE REVIEWS
Bromley council’s licensing sub-committee have revoked the premises licence for the Glam Night Club on the Sidcup Bypass.
A number of violent incidents occurred at the club when it reopened in
September 2013 after a lengthy closure following a review earlier in the
year, said a Bromley council statement.
“The seriousness of these incidents led police to apply for a further
review of the licence – the third since the opening of a nightclub on the
site in January 2010.
“The committee heard evidence from police that the club ‘had a tendency to
downplay’ and not report incidents as they occurred.
“There were issues with the training of staff, and the management did not fully comply with conditions, some of which they themselves had suggested.
“The licence holder, Adrian Pollock, denied management had failed and said that progress had been made, including the installation of upgraded CCTV.
“The club, he argued, should not be held to account for the inadequacies of the security firm they employed, and suggested that allegations of assault were ‘not high’ compared to an average London nightclub.
“The sub-committee concluded that, despite the efforts of the licence holder
and the staff, there was a long-standing problem of drink-related violence
at the premises and not enough was being done to prevent the supply of
alcohol to those who already had too much to drink.
“The committee accepted police evidence that there had been a failure of management, which the club refuted.”
Cllr Tim Stevens, Chairman of the licensing sub-committee, said: “After weighing up all the evidence, we were satisfied that the licence holder and staff had not dealt with the serious issues of crime and disorder arising at the premises.
“Further, there have been breaches of the conditions of the licence that were imposed at the last review.
“There was no alternative but to revoke the licence.”
The licence holder had 21 days from the decision to appeal. (Source: Bromley council press rele
