Issue - decisions

Having considered whether it was necessary to take interim steps under section 53B of the Licensing Act 2003 pending the hearing of the application by the Metropolitan Police for an expedited review of the premises licence for ‘Peaches’ (177-179 Kenton Road, Harrow, HA3 0EY)) pursuant to the provisions of the Licensing Act 2003, the Sub-Committee resolved that the premises licence remain in force, but the hours of licensable activities and opening hours be reduced, along with additional conditions and amendments to some existing conditions as an interim step on the grounds of crime and disorder under section 53B of the Licensing Act 2003 (as inserted by section 21 of the Violent Crime Reduction Act 2006):

(i)         that the hours during which licensable activities cease on the premises be amended to:-

Sunday to Thursday – 02:00 (the following day)

Friday and Saturday – 02:30 (the following day), except late night refreshments which will continue until closing time (03:00 the following day).

(ii)        that the hours during which the premises be permitted to remain open be amended to:

Sunday to Thursday – 07:00 to 02:30 (the following day)

Friday and Saturday – 07:00 to 03:00 (the following day)

That the following conditions be added to the premises licence:-

1.         No entry or re-entry to the premises shall be permitted after 01.00.

2.         No direct sales of bottled spirits are to be permitted whatsoever on the premises.

3.         There shall be no sale of drinks contained in bottles other than wine and champagne.

4.         No drinks shall be served other than in plastic or toughened glasses.

5.         The shisha bar is to remain fully closed up to, and including, the date of the review hearing.

6.         A maximum of 15 people at any one time shall be permitted to smoke in the beer garden only and for the avoidance of doubt, no drinks shall be permitted in the beer garden.

7.         Customers in the beer garden are to be supervised by an SIA approved door supervisor and a steward at all times.

8.         There shall be a minimum of seven SIA approved door supervisors and two stewards to control entrance to the premises and to control order within the premises on Fridays and Saturdays until 03:45 the following day.

9.         A “Challenge 23” policy shall be adopted and adhered to at all times.

10.       A substantial food offering and non-alcoholic drinks shall be available at all hours the premises is open to the public and free water to be made readily available until closing time.

11.       An incident log shall be kept at the premises, and made available for inspection on demand to an authorised officer of the Council or the Police, which will record and shall not be limited to the following:

(a) all crimes reported to the venue

(b) all ejections of patrons

(c) any complaints received

(d) any incidents of disorder

(e) all seizures of drugs or offensive weapons

(f) any faults in the CCTV system or searching equipment or

     scanning equipment

(g) any refusal of the sale of alcohol

(h) any visit by a relevant authority or emergency service.

12.       Any incident requiring blue light services shall be reviewed by management and staff at the earliest opportunity with any follow up action dealt with in a timely manner.

That the following conditions on the existing premises licence be amended:-

-       Condition 9 to be deleted and replaced with condition 12 as above.

-       Condition 25 to be deleted and replaced with condition 6 as above.

The Alcohol and Entertainment Licensing Sub-Committee (A) accepted the evidence submitted by the Police concerning a number of serious crime and disorder incidents associated with the premises, including the two most recent incidents on 23 November 2013 and 1 December 2013 respectively.  It felt that that this provided sufficient grounds on which the hours of the premises licence be reduced accordingly and conditions added and amended as an interim step on the grounds of crime and disorder.

The Alcohol and Entertainment Licensing Sub-Committee (C) also added informatives advising that the premises licence holder is to make arrangements for staff re-training.  Prior to the review hearing, steps shall be taken to ensure all staff are able to recognise the signs when customers are intoxicated and not to be served any alcoholic drinks.  It also requested that the applicant play only popular and rhythm and blues music.