COUNCILLORS have asked for more evidence from the police to support their bid to restrict the number of late night bars and clubs in Old Town and the town centre.

An application for a cumulative impact policy (CIP) went before the licensing committee on Thursday night, with the argument that cheap drink venues should not be allowed to open in areas where several already operated.

Police say in Broadgreen the policy would be used to target street drinkers by limiting new off-licenses in Manchester Road.

Sian Kalynka, licensing officer with Wiltshire Police, said: “This isn’t us asking for a blanket ban on all licences. In the three areas each has their own individual problems, and the CIP would look to address each of those in a different way. Every application that is made would still be considered on its own merits, but we need to look at the bigger picture of which sort of premises it would be.

“We have now got more venues which are discos or clubs, and at the moment we have crime and disorder in relation to that. What we want to see is more premises appear which are family-orientated. The issue is there is not enough variety at the moment.

“Broadgreen is a slightly different issue because we have problems with street drinkers in that area. The analysis shows violence, anti-social behaviour, drugs and criminal damage. The main street is Manchester Road, which has about nine off-licences, so we would seek to limit any more applications similar to what is already there.

“At the moment we are paying to specifically police the night-time economy. We are normally putting eight officers on the street just to police those venues, so other areas in Swindon are suffering.

Councillors said they were worried about discouraging business, as well as a lack of evidence from similar schemes around the country, and voted unanimously for officers to supply more information before any public consultation.

Junab Ali, (Lab, Central), said: “I would support this in Manchester Road but the police have their hands tied behind their backs because some of these premises are not abiding by the law. We need to target the people running some of these premises rather than the premises themselves.”

Stan Pajak, (Lib Dem, Eastcott,), said: “If the cumulative impact policy comes in there would be a presumption of guilt, which could make this committee more like a court. Most cases we judge on their own merits rather than the merits of next door. We need examples of this working and in operation.

“If we have a policy which tends to stop new businesses it could have the effect of discouraging the type of businesses we want.”