15 December 2011
Officers from Caerphilly County Borough Council, Gwent Police and South Wales Fire and Rescue Service have been visiting selected licensed premises as part of a multi-agency crackdown in the run-up to Christmas.
Officers conducted unannounced visits to four premises in the Caerphilly county borough recently, which had previously caused problems to the agencies involved.
As part of the checks, under-age test purchases of alcohol were made, and the pubs were subjected to checks for fire safety, health and safety, excessive noise, compliance with their licence conditions, trading standards and smoking ban checks.
A number of issues were discovered as a result of these visits including glasses being used outside one pub when the licence requires polycarbonate glasses, a hammer and other potential weapons being left within customer's reach, a locked fire exit and lack of fire risk assessments.
The agencies involved as now working with the management at each premises to help bring the premises up to the required standard.
Cllr Rob Gough, Cabinet Member for Public Protection said, "Our officers and our partners work tirelessly with licensed premises all year round to ensure they are adhering to the required conditions, and while the vast majority of licensed premises in our county borough are fully compliant, there does remain a very small minority who are not".
He continued, "With the festive party season now upon us, we are especially keen to put out the message that our officers and our partners are making visits to premises to check that standards are being maintained, to help ensure that everyone has a safe and enjoyable Christmas".
Caerphilly Partnership Inspector Kevin Childs said, "The planned activity confirms that through partnership working we can respond to public concern and address licensing issues when they arise. We react not just through prosecution but through education and support for license holders to ensure that staff, customers and local residents can operate in a legal, safe and enjoyable environment".
You can report a Trading Standards issue online or call them on 01495 235 291.
A dedicated website – www.donthaveanightmare.org.uk has also been launched as part of the Don't Have a Nightmare This Christmas initiative, and has plenty of top crime prevention tips for the holiday period.
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