Whitby bar ordered to remove its premises supervisor
It's after North Yorkshire Police called on the council to conduct a review
JK’s Bar in Whitby has been ordered to remove its premises supervisor after North Yorkshire Police called on the council to conduct a review.
North Yorkshire Council’s Licensing Sub Committee has ordered that the designated premises supervisor at JK’s Bar on Wellington Road, Whitby “be removed” following the “serious undermining” of licensing objectives.
At its meeting on Tuesday, May 23, the committee stated that it was particularly concerned by “repeated issues of not documenting staff training which constitutes a breach of the licence”.
It also heard that the designated premises supervisor had employed a 16-year-old who was “present at the premises until midnight” despite the licence forbidding the attendance of underage people after 8.30pm except for private functions.
According to the minutes of the meeting, the premises supervisor “accepted that the premises requires improvement” which “remained the case after the police interventions with the premises improvement plan” and the serving of Section 19 notices.
The minutes state that “there was also an incident where an alleged drink spiking incident took place and the CCTV was wiped” with North Yorkshire Police stating that none of the staff “were able to satisfy the police in relation to operating the CCTV”.
The premises supervisor “accepted that patrons of his premises were intoxicated” and agreed on the importance of maintaining CCTV in operation.
Without providing and recording staff training and also retaining CCTV, the licensing objectives have been undermined, according to the council’s licensing committee.
The authority stated that “every opportunity to put matters right” had been provided but this had not been taken by the supervisor and “the licensing objectives continue to be seriously undermined.”
In addition to requiring the removal of the designated premises supervisor, the council added a condition to the licence requiring a personal licence holder to be on duty when alcohol is sold.
The committee also asked for an occupancy figure to be obtained as soon as possible and added to the licence.
The licensing committee could have also chosen to implement other measures, including suspending the licence for a period “not exceeding three months” or revoking the licence.
The applicant, North Yorkshire Police, will have a right of appeal to the Magistrates’ Court against the committee’s decision within 21 days from receipt of the determination.