New scheme to tackle town centre troublemakers

Warwick District launches new scheme to tackle town centre troublemakers

A new scheme to help Warwick District licensees crackdown on town centre troublemakers is launched in April.

Those responsible for causing serious problems will face a life time ban from pubs and clubs across the district.

April 1 is the launch day for the Pubwatch scheme spearheaded by local licensees and Leamington town centre policing team with the backing of Warwickshire County Council ,Warwick District Council, Warwickshire Retail Crime Initiative and Warwickshire Fire and Rescue service.

The new Pubwatch is run by a committee of licensees from pubs and clubs in Leamington, Warwick and Kenilworth.

The scheme utilises town centre CCTV and a radio network to alert all licensees to signs of disorder and criminal activity involving individuals and groups.

Managers and door staff who have early warning of potential troublemakers will be able to take action to prevent the escalation of more serious problems.

Licensees have so far shown enthusiastic support for the scheme with members signing up from bars in Kenilworth and Warwick as well as Leamington.

The committee has drawn up a list of individuals who will be receiving instant bans from pubwatch member bars and clubs.

A further list of individuals will be receiving letters warning them about previous anti social behaviour and the risk of a ban.

The bans will run for a minimum of 12 months with the possibility of a permanent ban - depending on the circumstances. Once banned the individual will be barred from drinking in in any of the Pubwatch member premises.

Chief Inspector Chris Jackson, Warwick District Commander said he hoped Pubwatch would result in a further reduction in incidents of violence and disorder.

"We rely on the support of licensees in our ongoing committment to tackling binge drinking and the town centre crime and violence caused by those who drink heavily.

"Licensees are quite clearly on the front line when it comes to spotting signs of trouble in our town centres. We need the support of the pubs and clubs in sustaining our efforts to crack down on violence and disorder and schemes like this have proved useful elsewhere.

"Utilising CCTV and activating an early warning system gives everyone a better chance of preventing incidents escalating into large scale disorder.", he added.