Traffic lights signal pub risks

A new traffic light system has been introduced by North Wales Police to keep and eye on licensed premises.

The new system, being piloted in Conwy and Denbighshire, grades the 1,100 licensed premises in both counties as green, amber or red depending on the levels of crime, disorder or nuisance associated with them.

Anywhere which is licensed to sell alcohol or has a late night licence is automatically included in the scheme which is based on one used in Cardiff City Centre.

If an incident is linked to a premises a carefully formulated score is awarded dependent on the severity of the incident and any mitigating actions taken by the owners or managers of the business concerned.

Chief Inspector Rob Kirman said: "The scheme has been running successfully in Central Division for a number of months. It gives us an instant snapshot of premises where there is little or no trouble, which will be on green, a heads up on places where there have been incidents, which will be on amber, and we can instantly see any problem hotspots, which will be showing as red."

Premises in red or amber are visited by officers to talk through the issues and discuss ways to resolve them and get them back in the green zone. The ultimate long term sanction is that a licensed can be revoked.

C.I Kirman said: "In an ideal world we would want all our local licensed premises to be sitting in the green band. But inevitably there are a number in amber and some in red. This new system of identifying them has meant we can keep a closer eye on the situation, prevent some ambers from tipping in to the red and work with the reds to address the problems which have put them there."

Denbighshire County Council and Conwy County Borough Council have worked with North Wales Police to develop the system which aims to deliver positive results for those who visit licenced premises and the people who live near them.

John Donnelly, Principal Licensing and Registration Officer for Conwy and Denbighshire Councils, said: "The traffic light system will assist all our licensed premises in ensuring our partnership approach in dealing with the associated problems of alcohol and our licensed premises is quickly and consistently targeted at those premises causing concern.

"The scheme will also help maintain and improve the high standards of the majority of the licensed premises in both counties.

C.I Kirman added: "Our overriding aim is to continue to reduce disorderly behaviour and any crime associated with licensed premises. This new traffic light system, which is updated daily, is an important tool in helping us to achieve this."