The Tameside Metropolitan boroughs separate Pubwatch schemes are set to unite under one Tameside-wide banner following an inaugural meeting recently.
Seventy one licensees met at Hyde Town Hall with police and council partners to broker the confederation deal which will see each town have its own independent scheme, but with all linked through Pubwatch online.
The electronic system means that if an individual is barred from one of the member pubs their photograph is circulated to the others who will then enforce the ban on their own premises.
A variety of speakers from National Pubwatch, Pubwatch online, the police and council licensing talked on the importance of working together in a co-ordinated way.
Event organiser and licensing officer Dave Smith said: Getting the various towns Pubwatch schemes working together in a co-ordinated fashion was crucial if we were to succeed in our aim to make all Tameside pubs safe to drink in. Having a strong, active scheme in one town will only move the problem onto the next; a co-ordinated approach like we now have in place alleviates the problem.
Droylsden Pubwatch Chair Alan Graham said: The reason I push so much to have Pubwatch throughout Tameside is because I do not want to go back to the days when certain individuals would feel they controlled the licensed premises and not the licensee. This no longer happens, now we have Pubwatch, we are stronger in numbers and we have the complete support of the police. It is no longer a black mark against licensed premises to ask for assistance if its needed.
Story courtesy of Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council (23/12/15)
