W&DB charged for rhythmic customers
Concerns over the greater powers given to local authorities under imminent licensing reform intensified this week after Westminster Council won a bizarre civil case against Wolverhampton & Dudley Breweries (W&DB).
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London council officials found people "moving rhythmically" to music at two Pitcher & Piano bars in central London and owner W&DB was fined £5,000 plus £1,600 costs for not holding a dancing permit.
The brewery said it had done everything it could to comply with the law, but even turning the music down had not stopped customers dancing.
A spokesman for W&DB said: "If you consider this to be an offence, I think it's deeply disturbing. How can you physically police every single person in a bar from moving from one foot to another?" He said Westminster should be concentrating its resources on more serious issues.
Westminster Council is also planning a blanket 1am curfew for pubs and restaurants in the West End when 24-hour licensing comes into effect. The industry is worried that other councils may act similarly when local authorities are given the power to grant licenses instead of magistrates.
Business in Sport and Leisure, a lobby group of more than 100 private companies, believes blanket bans must not be allowed under the new legislation.
Chief executive Brigid Simmonds explained that Westminster now faced problems because it had not exercised its rights under planning law to limit pubs, bars and nightclubs to 15% of the number of shops.
"The problem is that many local authorities have seen the growth in late night premises as a way of raising funding, charging £5,000, or in Westminster's case up to £30,000 for an annual Public Entertainment Licence and pocketing the profit. New nationally set charges under the new Act will ensure this practice does not continue, but local authorities have only themselves to blame if they feel they have too many late night premises at present," she said.
The licensing bill is currently in the House of Lords and reaches the Commons in spring next year. It should receive royal consent in July and would then become law in 2004.
