hotel staff to act as spies in pub violence crackdown
HOTEL staff could soon be acting as police spies in a bid to cut pub and club violence in a holiday resort.
The controversial plan to recruit hotel staff as informants has been suggested by police at Whitley Bay in Northumberland.
The suggestion from senior officers is that staff should report guests, particularly large groups of men, who they feel might cause trouble. The idea is to be discussed at a July meeting with hoteliers and tourism chiefs.
Police say the information would allow them to patrol Whitley Bay's busy seafront area more effectively and control outbreaks of street violence between visiting gangs.