HUMBERSIDE Police have apologised after forcing a meeting to be held that has been branded a " waste of time and money".
North East Lincolnshire Council's licensing sub-committee met to discuss an application to extend the bank holiday opening hours of a Cleethorpes nightclub by an hour after police objected to the plan.
However, at the meeting yesterday, the committee heard the objection had been raised as part of a now defunct "blanket policy" to object to all applications to open beyond 4am.
Speaking on behalf of the force, Daniel Guiver, told the hearing a meeting had been held between him and a senior officer the previous night and decided from now on, each application would be considered on its own merit.
He added, after striking a late-night deal with the applicant, Leisure 99 Ltd – which had applied to extend the opening hours of the Lite House from 4am to 5am on May 6 and May 27 – the force had no objection to the plan.
Confirming the club's managers had entered into a "gentlemen's agreement" with Humberside Police not to allow revellers to enter the club after 4am, consultant Michael Kheng said he was "saddened" it had not been resolved earlier.
He added the cost to North East Lincolnshire Council, his client and the police of holding the hearing was "far in excess" of the amount that would be made over the bar by extending the licence.
He also told the committee his client had experience of managing the issues arising with extended opening hours, as its other venue – The Bootlegger – had already been granted a 24-hour licence, which it was managing responsibly and successfully.
Granting the licence extension, chairman of the committee, Councillor Steve Beasant (Lib Dem, East Marsh), said: "The licensing sub committee have listened to the submissions presented this morning and are pleased all parties are finally working together to resolve previous concerns highlighted by the licensing sub committee.
"The sub committee noted that agreement had been reached, but that it had been at too late a stage for the police objection to be withdrawn.
"They were minded to endorse the consensus reached overnight, however they were concerned that this agreement was reached at the eleventh hour and if resolved earlier could have saved the relevant authorities valuable time and expense."
QUESTIONS RAISED OVER 'GENTLEMEN'S AGREEMENT'ALTHOUGH the application was granted and no objections were raised, the committee did have some concerns. Committee member Councillor David Hornby, (Cons, Scartho), raised questions about how the "gentlemen's agreement" to refuse entry to any more customers after 4am would be policed. He raised the issue after the committee heard the matter could not be stipulated as a condition of the extension being granted, as it was not part of the current licensing conditions. He said: "What will be put in place to monitor the gentlemen's agreement? How will you ensure this happens?" The club's general manager Lee Naggs replied that a similar procedure was already in place to prevent further customers entering the premises after 3.30am when the club shut at 4am. He said: "Customers' hands are stamped when they come in. "We have two bouncers at the bottom of the steps and a third bouncer at the top checking people for the stamps and, if they don't have the stamp, they don't get in. They would not be able to get past three bouncers."