10:00am Thursday 9th July 2009
By Miriam Phillips
RUSTY LANES bar in Weymouth has had its licence suspended for 14 days after bar staff were caught serving under-age girls.
The decision was taken to suspend the harbourside pub’s licence at a licensing sub-committee of Weymouth and Portland Borough Council.
It followed a joint operation by Dorset Police and Trading Standards at Rusty Lanes where, on two separate occasions, staff served a 15-year-old girl and a 16-year-old girl on February 28 and March 6 without challenging their age.
At the meeting councillors heard from Trading Standards officer Richard Herringshaw that the two test purchases took place on a Saturday lunchtime and Friday evening.
He said that on both occasions the pub was not busy and the volunteers had not been made to look any older.
It emerged that there had been no refusals or challenge registers kept and the pub’s policy was Challenge 18, he added.
Dorset Police divisional licensing officer Karen O’Donnell confirmed that the designated premises supervisor appeared to have a lack of understanding of licensing regulation.
A nearby resident, also spoke at the meeting saying that some residents were ‘at the end of their tether’ due to the public nuisance of late night noise He called for the licence to be revoked and said that they did not experience problems with other businesses in the area and suggested the problems were caused by alcohol.
Councillors heard that borough environmental health officers had made two late-night visits to the venue to monitor noise and no adverse levels had been found.
The designated premises supervisor Vicky Reynolds told the meeting that improvements have been made in the form of introducing a ‘Challenge 25’ policy.
The venue has also employed two new experienced bar staff and everyone has been enrolled on training courses.
She added that the sale of alcopops has been stopped and the range of wines introduced to add more emphasis to the restaurant side of the business.
The suspension of the bar’s licence started on Tuesday and will last for 14 days.
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