Village publican signs up to town Pubwatch scheme
ANOTHER publican has backed the Mail’s Safer Burton campaign by signing up to Pubwatch.
Kaz McLean, who has been the manager of The Leopard in Tutbury for 18 months, is the latest to join the safety scheme.
Pubwatch is an initiative where landlords work together to protect their customers, staff and their premises.
The scheme works by banning anyone who has been charged with an offence in one of the Pubwatch premises — barred from one, barred from all.
Pubwatch is also able to highlight individuals for exclusion who have not been charged with an offence, but have caused problems in one of its venues.
Ms McLean said she thought it was a ‘great initiative which can prevent a problem before one occurs’.
She told the Mail: “I didn’t know rural pubs could join the scheme, but I think it’s great we can.
“Village pubs can feel isolated because if there is an incident it can take the police a while to get to us.
“With landlords signing up to Pubwatch it is an added security measure.
“My primary concern is running a safe pub and to make sure my customers feel safe.
“Having the knowledge about certain troublemakers from other Pubwatch venues is a good way of making us aware.
“I’d encourage other landlords and pub managers to get involved as it’s beneficial to us all — especially to our customers.
We back the Mail’s Safer Burton campaign and I think everyone else should as well.” Burton town centre manager Paul Howard, who runs the scheme, said: “Burton’s Pubwatch is a civil exclusion scheme.
“As it’s civil, it does not need the backing of courts, police or other statutory organisations, it’s simply a group of businesses saying ‘we will not tolerate bad behaviour in our venues’.
“Those served with a Pubwatch ban are issued with a 12-month banning order.
“We do not take our responsibilities lightly when banning individuals from socialising in the town centre.
“In fact banning our own customers would seem to some an odd way of doing business but we cannot allow the majority of people’s night out to be marred by violence or the anti-social behaviour of the few.”
He added: “At the moment we have 16 people currently banned from our member premises for reasons ranging from assault to criminal damage “There have been a further nine banning orders in Uttoxeter.
“While the two schemes operate independently and a ban doesn’t exclude individuals from both towns, information is shared between schemes to ensure that a close watch is kept on potential troublemakers.”
Ms McLean follows Bill Ganley, licensee of The Grange Inn in Casey Lane, Shobnall, who was the first landlord to sign up to Pubwatch as part of Safer Burton.
Any other licensee wishing to join Pubwatch as part of the campaign is asked to call Mr Howard on 01283 500047.
