The Drill, in Brentwood Road, has had its application to open an hour later each day refused by Havering Council’s licensing sub-committee.
At a meeting on Monday (November 10), the committee heard from public protection officer Oisin Daly on behalf of the licensing authority and PC Chris Stockman on behalf of the Metropolitan Police – who both raised concerns about the potential for “crime and disorder” due to “increased levels of intoxication”.
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PC Stockman said: “We do have concerns that extension of the trading hours to 1.20 in the morning is likely to have an adverse impact on the community.
“Extending the supply of alcohol until 1am hous will extend the consumption period and may lead to increased levels of intoxication, which may result in disturbances and crime and disorder.
“This in turn causes public safety to be at risk because of violent crime and injuries associated with those kind of offences.”
However, both Mr Daly and PC Stockman pointed out that The Drill is “generally managed well” by its operators Kim and Wayne.
Mr Daly said: “Historically there have been minor issues […] but in respect of the premises operators themselves we have a good relationship with them and there’s no concerns about them as operators.”
In his objection letter published prior to the meeting, Mr Daly mentioned “previous incidents at the premises […] where fights have occurred in the street”, as well as other issues with patrons congregating in the area outside the pub when leaving.
A representative for The Drill said at the meeting that the application to extend opening hours was aimed “purely to retain the existing customers”, rather than attracting new ones.
He encouraged councillors to come to an “evidence-based” decision on the extension, adding that it was “good to hear” from the authorities about “how well The Drill operates”.
Licensing sub-committee chair Cllr Phillipa Crowder said the decision “certainly wasn’t an easy” one and that the committee had been “backwards and forwards” in their discussion – but had ultimately refused the longer opening hours.
Summing up, legal advisor Thandi Lubimbi said: “Having heard representations from both sides the sub-committee are satisfied that the licensing objectives of preventing crime and disorder, and preventing a public nuisance, will be undermined if the extension of hours are granted.”
