Town centre bar thrown out

PLANNING bosses at Warrington have thrown out proposals for a town centre restaurant and bar following objections from the police.
The application involved a former carpet shop in Barbauld Street – and the applicants were proposing that the bar should open until 2am seven days a week.
It was the second time this year permission had been sought for the development.
Police argued that the town centre already had a large number of late night licensed pubs and bars, with a total capacity at existing late night pubs and bars of more than 14,000.
Officers were already heavily committed every night policing the town centre to deal with a very large number of violent incidents.
As a result, police had to be diverted from other parts of the borough to help
A police spokesman said: “The cumulative impact of the existing licensed premises has effectively reached saturation point. There are too many late night bars chasing too few customers.
“This is evidenced by price competition and the number of premises that offer deep discounts to attract customers. Some bars offer a pint of beer or lager for as little as 50 pence.”
The spokesman said this created a potential for an increase in crime and disorder.
A culture of “circuit drinking” had developed with people having a drink in one bar and then moving on to the next. This resulted in queues forming out premises – a situation which had worsened since the smoking ban was introduced.
They also said there was inadequate CCTV coverage in the vicinity..
Police also pointed out the premises were in a cul de sac which made it more difficult to police the area.
Warrington’s town centre manager Nick White also lodged an objection, as did town centre clergyman the Rev Stephen Kingsnorth.
They feared unacceptable levels of noise, disturbance and public safety issues.