HEAVY drinking has seen North East Lincolnshire become one of the region's worst areas for alcohol-related violence, according to recent figures.
At a licensing meeting held yesterday it was revealed how the authority area was now the second worst in Yorkshire and the Humber for such violence, with figures showing:
Up to 40 per cent of arrests are associated with alcohol misuse – that is 140 arrests per month linked to alcohol abuse.
Of all those arrested, 38 per cent regularly drink a harmful amount and 11 per cent are alcohol dependant people.
35 per cent of ambulance calls are related to alcohol
70 per cent of peak-time accident and emergency admissions are alcohol-related.
Quentin Dowse, associate director of public health at this area's drug and alcohol action team, said the figures had been consistent over the past four years.
He said: "It is a worse problem here than many other towns and cities 70 per cent of peak-time accident and emergency admissions are alcohol-related. It is a massive problem and they affect the smooth operation of accident and emergency. Some are aggressive to staff and other patients, some of whom are children."
Mr Dowse was speaking at the day-long hearing, which was held to consider three separate applications for extending opening hours at town centre public houses run by Grimsby Pubs Ltd.
The applications for The Bank Vault in Bethlehem Street; Walters in the Old Market Place and Musika in Pasture Street, were all approved by North East Lincolnshire Council's licensing committee.
Humberside Police objected to all three applications, believing the bars would become "magnets" for crime and disorder.
However, the applications were approved on the condition police and the council were told 48 hours in advance of events running until 6am and these would be manned by three door supervisors. North East Lincolnshire Council's licensing sub-committee member Councillor David Watson, said: "Our focus is on prevention of crime and disorder and feel it appropriate to be active rather than reactive.
"We realise there is a heavy drinking culture in Top Town and all three premises have their own, unique customer base.
"At Bank, we recognise there have been incidents of crime in the early evening which has been managed appropriately. At Walters, incidents of crime and disorder have occurred in the past but the current licence holder is managing this appropriately and there have been no incidents reported to police since the new management came in.
"At Musika, there is a lack of hard evidence submitted by the police to support their concerns of serious crime and disorder."
Nick Bish, of the Association of Licensed Multiple Retailers, said: "The good citizens of Grimsby and Cleethorpes are looking for a nice, safe and sociable night out and we encourage all those in the industry to think about the community they serve.
"Late-night opening is a sensitive issue, but if managed properly and you get everyone understanding the benefits it is good for town centres.
"Support for the licensees ensure towns can thrive and keeps trade in the town and enhances employment.
"It is up to everyone involved to understand the benefits and be aware of the downside risks."
The Bank Vault in Bethlehem Street: extend hours of opening until 6amObjections from Humberside Police At the hearing Inspector Neil Pattison said "Extra officers are drafted in each Friday and Saturday night to police the night time economy. So we are policing private enterprise to 3am. "After 3am we are stretched due to having to deal with pubs and clubs and balance that with calls to domestic violence, burglaries and car thefts. "To have 6am licences will stretch resources beyond all available means." In a report to councillors Humberside Police has listed a series of violent incidents at the venues. Chief Constable, Daniel Guiver said: "Premises open until 6am become a magnet for those who are out late and drinking in other premises. They have already been drinking and the experience is the more alcohol consumed the more likely they will become involved in public disorder." The Force's licensing officer, Ken Stone, said of The Bank: "There are incidents of violent crime associated with the premises, which if they are allowed to extend the hours, will have a detrimental impact on the area." Also objecting, the British Transport Police said the venue was near Grimsby Town railway station. Railway service quality manager Billy Vickers said in a report to councillors that people urinate in the station foyer. He added: "The proposed extended hours can only make this situation worse and have a major impact on our customers and staff who encounter anti-social behaviour and other nuisance while going about business. The door staff at The Bank are very polite, but there are occasions when they are unable to contain anti-social behaviour."Representing Grimsby Pubs Ltd, licensing consultant Michael Kheng said the owners were seeking flexibility to be open a further two hours until 6am. He said: "It usually closes at around 1am. they don't use it to 4am. Granting it to 6am will not mean it is open to 6am." He said a licence extension would mean the owners no longer having to apply for special temporary licences. Mr Kheng said the owners were surprised at the objection from Humberside Police and licensing officers because they had not objected to a 6am licence for Barcelona in Station Approach, Cleethorpes. Mr Kheng said: "Barcelona is just as close to Cleethorpes railway station as The Bank is to Grimsby, but there were no objections to their 6am licence." The Meze restaurant and Bootleggar pub in Cleethorpes High Street both have 24-hour licences, he said. The consultant said health issues raised by Mr Dowse were not part of the licensing objectives which councillors should consider. He added the comments of the police inspector about policing streets were not a concern for premises' owners. Mr Kheng said there was no evidence of troubles at The Bank and there had only been one request for CCTV footage following an incident. He added all the incidents listed by Humberside Police had happened before 11pm.
Walters, Old Market Place: extended opening hours to 6am seven days a weekTwo neighbouring businesses objected to the application by Walters to extend its opening hours. Nigel Plumridge, owner of the The Prom Company, said he had concerns about the intended use of the venue. He told yesterday's licensing committee hearing: "It is not suitable for parties. It is only suitable for what it is - a drinking man's pub. "It attracts the wrong kind of people and the pub does not have a smoking area. "Our main concerns is the loud music. You are going to have three pubs blasting out music at 3 o'clock on a Saturday and that is not going to give the right image of the town." Joseph Chan, from the Golden Regency Chinese restaurant told the hearing ofWalters patrons smoking outside his restaurant and of seeing "hundreds of cigarettes" on the floor every day. Daniel Guiver, a solicitor for Humberside Police, said there was no record of serious disorder at Walters, but suggested that this was largely due to the fact that it operated "as a pub" and regularly closed at around midnight. He said the force would accept an extension to 4am but not 6am, and suggested that the venue apply for temporary events notices for occasional late opening. "The chief constable believes that if they are open at 6am there is likely to be disorder. It would become a magnet for drinkers from other premises who want to continue drinking."Licensing consultant Michael Kheng, speaking on behalf of Grimsby Pubs Ltd, said that although the premises can currently remain open until 2.30am, it usually closed around midnight. He said using temporary events notices would be "costly in the long-run" and added that opening at 8am would enable the venue to serve breakfast. Mr Kheng also insisted there was a smoking area at the rear of the venue, but added: "We can't stop customers going out the front if they want to have a cigarette."
Musika in Pasture Street: Extend hours of opening until 6amObjections from Humberside Police At the hearing, deputy forces solicitor, Daniel Guiver said: "There are, already at Musika, significant problems with crime and disorder and these are incidents when they aren't even open until 4am. "There is a serious concern opening until 6am will increase these problems. "Even with plenty of notice, there are not the police resources. If there is disorder and there aren't the resources, that is a danger." The police said there had been five "serious" incidents of crime and disorder inside Musika in six months – but Mr Kheng denied knowledge of three and dismissed the other two as 'fisticuffs'. Mr Guiver added: "They may say there has only been five incidents, but we are talking one in October, another in November and the remaining three this year which we are not far into. They were serious incidents. "There is a serious concern opening until 6am will increase these problems. It is likely to have a significant impact on crime and disorder, which is likely to be worse and more often if drinking is allowed until 6am. "We have based our objection on evidence from general policing that alcohol related violence increases with consumption. Consumption will be lower at 4am than 6am. "We should be preventing and deterring rather than waiting and reacting to problems." Licensing consultant Michael Kheng, speaking on behalf of Grimsby Pubs Ltd, said if they were granted all three applications, they will not open all three venues until 6am every weekend because 'there isn't the trade' and it was just to offer more flexible opening hours for special events. They were granted temporary events notices (TEN) on Halloween, New Year, and in March allowing them to open at 6am. Halloween and New Year went without incident but in March, they did not use the notice. Mr Kheng said they had been prepared to drop the applications for Walters and the Bank if police approved Musika. They asked the police to discuss the 'trade off' at a meeting before the hearing but the police did not attend. Mr Kheng said: "Police say there have been five incidents, but only two of these we can agree on, the others we know nothing about. "We used a TEN at Halloween and there wasn't any incidents. It was open until 5am and there were no problems. "We do not feel these premises will become magnets to late night drinking." After the hearing, Mr Kheng added: "If the police had spoken to us earlier this whole hearing could have been avoided. It has been a complete waste of time and public money. We offered to talk to them and would have withdrawn Walters and Bank if they had cooperated."
