Safety before cheap drinks, say council

Cheap drinks are frowned upon by local authorities

As the credit crunch hits, traders are cutting prices and some pubs and clubs are offering out major discounts on alcohol, causing great concern among local authorities.

However, the members of Rochdale’s Best Bar None Scheme are adamant that the safety of all drinkers is more important than ringing tills, and they want to continue to work together with the council, police and the town centre management in making sure that Rochdale’s night life is as safe as possible.

Mark Foxley and Martyn Turner, owner of MANGO and winners of the Best Bar None Scheme said: “This is a tough time for pubs and clubs and is often difficult to complete with discounts being offered by supermarkets.

“However, we personally are not prepared to offer reckless discounts that for some individuals can encourage irresponsible and harmful drinking. We want to maintain our clubs reputation of being safe and enjoyable venues and that means working hard to keep antisocial, drunken and disorderly behaviour to an absolute minimum for the safety and welfare of all our customers.”

The Best Bar None Scheme encourages the responsible management and operation of alcohol licensed premises with the ultimate intention of offering and maintaining a safer, more welcoming, attractive and lively drinking experience for the customers in the Rochdale borough.

The town centre’s very successful Pub and Club Watch Scheme, that has over 20 members, have agreed to support each other in an attempt to reduce incidents of violence, criminal or disorderly behaviour in pubs and clubs.

Debbie O’Brien, town centre manager, said there are many ways in which we are working hard in Rochdale to ensure our town centre night time economy conducts business in a socially responsible way. To support the Best Bar None and Pub Watch Scheme we have improved CCTV in operation, also a radio network that allows members to effectively share information with each other and the police on crime disorder. All these initiatives contribute to the promotion of safe and responsible drinking, working towards making Rochdale a safer place to socialise.

Almost 85% of Rochdale people thought that low prices and discounts increase peoples alcohol consumption, according to figures released last week from the biggest ever survey on alcohol in the North West.

Councillor Ted Flynn, cabinet member for community safety, said “I would like to reassure people that the council is working closely with its partners in the police and health services to tackle alcohol related issues, the Best Bar None scheme is a prime example of how we are working with our local landlords and landladies to promote a sense of social responsibility regarding the sale of alcohol in their premises.

The responsible pubs and clubs that have taken on the principles of the Best Bar None Scheme are demonstrating a real commitment to improve community safety in our town centres.”