Licensees band together to combat drink-related crime

Barnoldswick Against Night-time Disorder - BAND for short - is a new initiative aimed at stamping out drink-related problems in the town centre.

Although no worse than many other towns, Barnoldswick has its problems with anti-social behaviour, usually related to drunkenness.

Now local pubs, clubs and off-licences, with the full backing of the police, are joining forces to combat the problems and clean up the town's image.

Under the new initiative, anyone banned from a pub or club for anti-social behaviour will also be banned from every pub or club taking part in the BAND scheme.

Sgt Peter Henderson, of Barnoldswick Police, said meetings had been held with the town's publicans and off-licence owners.

"It is really an alliance of all the licensees in the town, putting up a united front against persistent troublemakers. There is a similar scheme in Burnley town centre and it is proving very successful there."

Sgt Henderson said common sense was the basis of the scheme. People wouldn't be banned for minor incidents or just being too rowdy.

But anyone involved in a serious assault, theft, or with the use and supply of drugs, would be excluded from all licensed premises in the BAND scheme.

Similarly, anyone responsible for drink-related criminal damage - not necessarily on licensed premises - could also be banned.

"A typical ban would be for 12 months, but the length would be up to the licensees and they might want to review it," said Sgt Henderson. "It's really their scheme that we will assist them with in whatever way we can.

"If someone ignored or breached a ban, we can go to the magistrates' court for a formal exclusion order, lasting anything from three months to two years."

Sgt Henderson added that most of the problems had been on Church Street, where most of the town centre pubs were located, and it was worst on Friday and Saturday nights.

"There has been an increase in drink-related violence and we will be targeting that area in addition to the new scheme," he said.

All the pubs and clubs taking part in the scheme will display special notices alerting customers.

Another side to the problem is under-age drinking, both on licensed premises and in the street. Licensees often have difficulties in establishing someone's age and will be looking at various ways to tackle that.

But there is another problem with even younger teenagers and children getting alcohol and drinking on the streets.

Often the alcohol is bought for them by older teenagers and adults, and people have complained of being harassed by groups of youngsters wanting them to buy drink on their behalf.

The police are approaching off-licences in the town to work with them.

There will be special notices put up and cards handed out to customers.

The cards warn that last year 238 offences were committed in West Craven by young people under the influence of alcohol, including assaults, violent disorder and criminal damage. They urge people to help prevent that by refusing to supply alcohol to under-age drinkers.

"We're confident we can tackle these problems effectively," said Sgt Henderson. "But we need everyone working together and that includes parents."

With the BAND scheme still being formulated, meetings will continue between the police and local publicans on the best way to implement the new measures.

Next week Sgt John Bullas, the officer largely responsible for the successful Burnley scheme, will come to Barnoldswick to talk to the next meeting.