Police 'optimistic' over 24-hour pub licences (From Gazette & Herald)

Police 'optimistic' over 24-hour pub licences

POLICE in Ryedale are confident that the new 24-hour pub licensing hours

will not be a problem.

Inspector Neil Burnett, commander for the area, said he was "optimistic" that the new system could be managed.

He told the Malton Rural West Police and Community Group meeting (CAP) at Terrington that when hours had been extended on Friday and Saturday nights during two summers in the past, it had not caused problems for the police.

"One of the biggest causes of trouble is due to the last half-an-hour to an hour of licensing hours which can lead to binge drinking, with people ordering two, three or four drinks, which they consume quickly, and then go out into the street."

Inspector Burnett added: "I think we can get it right in Ryedale, but I'm not sure how it will work in the urban areas."

The new system, he added, would be based on the continental "cafe culture". He did not believe there would be 24-hour drinking in Ryedale's pubs. "My projection is that the vast majority won't want to stay open beyond 1am because there won't be the business." He felt that licensing hours would be tailored for individual pubs.

The Country Watch and Farm Watch schemes are proving a great success in Ryedale, parish councillors were told, with 240 members in the Country Watch scheme alone.

However, there was a need to revitalise Neighbourhood Watch schemes in the area, said Inspector Burnett.

There are now 20 officers for traffic speed enforcement, he said.

He added that as well as police being able to instantly trace the details of a car's owner, it was now possible to ascertain whether a vehicle was insured.

As a result, police were now impounding vehicles if they were not insured.

While a number had been reclaimed on payment of a sum in excess of £100, in some cases motorists who could not afford to insure them left them with the police and they were then crushed.

Such vehicles were often worth less than £1,000, said Inspector Burnett. However, the policy was taking uninsured vehicles off the road. Some cars, he added, were "pool vehicles" run by young people and they were not recorded at the DVLA.

The group chairman, Coun Pamela Anderson, paid tribute to Brian Taylor, the anti-social behaviour co-ordinator who died recently.

He had just retired as a detective chief superintendent with West Yorkshire Police after 26 years' service.

The next meeting of the CAP group is to be held at Barton-le-Willows on

April 5.

Updated: 15:01 Wednesday, January 19, 2005