Troubled pub may have to close (From Swindon Advertiser)

Troubled pub may have to close

9:50am Monday 15th September 2008

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MASS brawls and late night loud music could spell last orders for a Swindon pub.

In the past few months The Sandgate on Oxford Road has come under the watchful eye of the police and Swindon Council.

Complaints about noise provoked action from council noise monitors and scuffles, one involving 50 people and which saw a police officer hospitalised, have prompted a review of the venue’s licence.

On Thursday a panel of councillors will decide the pub’s fate.

Licence holder Tracy Rumble says improvements have already been made.

She said music stops earlier than it should, windows and doors are closed and curtains, which help contain sound, have gone up – and she said she has also bought a sound monitor.

“I took over the running of this place in January and a lot of the trouble was before that,” she said.

“And I have spoken to the council’s licensing people since then and sorted out the problems with the noise.

“I feel I have a strong case.”

Action against the venue started late last year when the council’s environmental improvement team received complaints about the volume of music at the venue – which is supposed to finish at 11pm.

Police have also supported the review of the licence – and said they had been planning to complain anyway.

Officers sent the council papers which show that last November officers were called to the pub to deal with a 20 person fight and a 50 person fight in December.

Police also attended a 20 person fight on July 30 this year, which saw one officer hospitalised after being kicked in the arm and the ribs. In her statement the injured officer wrote: “The incident has left me very shaken up and I have never been so frightened in my police career.” Ms Rumble told the Adver: “The evening was perfect. Everyone was fine it was a good evening. So I’m really not sure what happened.”

Paperwork sent to the council by police about the venue concluded: “Significant disorder happens after midnight and the disorders are impacting on the quality of life of local residents and are also very resource intensive for the police to resolve – impacting on policing in the wider community.”

The police suggested cutting back hours booze can be sold, careful monitoring of how people leave the venue and staff training on how to refuse selling already drunk people more alcohol.

Council officers got involved after receiving complaints about the volume of music at The Sandgate and visited the area three times to hear for themselves.

After the third visit, on July 20 this year, the officer called the venue in the early hours to raise complaints but, said the council report, the landlord argued, refused to apologise or co-operate.

Papers that were sent to the licensing officers senior environmental health officer Rowan Castle said, because of the pub’s location and ‘the repeated failure of the management to adhere to the time limits of the licence or to control music noise’, the venue’s licence should be withdrawn.

Councillors will meet to rule on the future of the venue on Thursday.

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