Drinks price war 'a cause of violence'

Cleveland Police made the claims at a special meeting of town centre pub managers and licensees at Middlesbrough Town Hall yesterday.

Licensing officer PC Revis Phillips said: "Cleveland Police are concerned that the discounting of drinks can be associated with an increase in violence in the town centre.

"You are offering two drinks for the price of one, so you are getting a leap-frogging system throughout the town.

"It's asking for people to drink beyond their normal means."

PC Phillips said the discounts are attracting the worst sort of people while driving the rest away. "We are finding that you are driving people out," he said.

He urged the publicans to re-consider why they discount drinks, the effect on their premises and on future licensing applications, and come up with more sensible offers.

He said: "We have approached the local magistrates and they are quite happy to back us in revoking licences."

PC Phillips called for similar restraint in relation to flyers advertising discounting.

He said discarded leaflets were making the town a "rubbish tip", and urged publicans to exercise greater control over how many they put out.

Tony Linklater, manager of Dr Brown's pub, agreed that cheap drinks and the flyers advertising them were a problem, but he said: "We are going to have to tie in with the estates, as they are offering more in discounts."

PC Revis suggested another worthwhile option would be introducing a town centre pub-watch scheme, concentrating on about 20 pubs and utilising a police phone system.

"We consider the way the nightlife is going, it's essential to have a town centre pub-watch," he said. "The system in place is a start and we could progress to a radio system."

Pam Ross, the council's principal licensing officer, warned that any fly posting by pubs could result in licences being revoked.

Another meeting will be held in a month to discuss the options further.

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