Crackdown on rowdy drinkers

A TWO-PRONGED attack on drinking outside pubs and nuisance drinkers has been launched by city chiefs.

Strict new licensing rules will mean that customers will be banned from taking alcohol on to the street after 11pm.

And a city-wide bylaw which gives police powers to arrest those drinking in public places at any time of the day is to be used to crack down on antisocial behaviour.

Both moves, which are expected to be in place within weeks, are primarily aimed at tackling the spiralling number of complaints about noise outside pubs and clubs in the wake of the smoking ban.

But they won't apply to beer gardens and other private outdoor areas attached to licensed premises.

The new outdoor public drinking bylaw, which it is hoped will be in place before Christmas, will give police widespread powers to arrest rowdy drinkers, including those who refuse to move back inside

licensed premises. Those arrested will face fines of up to £500.

At present it is left to individual managers to set the rules on whether drinks are allowed to be taken outside.

Although some places have introduced new rules to restrict numbers in the wake of the smoking ban, large crowds can be seen outside many bars and nightspots.

The council and the city's licensing board are looking at making it a condition of all premises licensed after 11pm that customers are banned from taking their drinks on to the streets.

Senior councillors and officials behind the initiatives believe they will give the city vital tools to help them cope with a rising tide of complaints from people living near licensed premises.

A spokeswoman for the city's licensing section said today: "The licensing board will be asked in the near future to consider amending the existing conditions attached to premises with regular extensions of hours, to prevent drink being taken outside the premises for consumption after 11pm. Such a condition cannot by law be imposed for earlier in the day and that is why the bylaw is necessary."

The bylaw will give the police the power to arrest anyone who is causing a nuisance by drinking outdoors and fails to stop when asked to do so by an officer.

Senior police officers have previously complained that legislation covering breach of the peace offences does not give them enough power to tackle drunken troublemakers.

But the council has been against bringing in a blanket ban amid fears about the damage it would do to the city's tourism image.

The council and the police have insisted it will not be used to tackle people having a quiet drink in city beauty spots, or to confront those drinking outdoors who are not causing a nuisance.

However it is hoped the bylaw and the planned new licensing condition will discourage crowds of drinkers from loitering outside licensed premises, the source of most of the complaints following the smoking ban.

City licensing leader Phil Attridge said today: "There's not much that can be done in Edinburgh at the moment to stop people standing drinking outside.

"We hope this new bylaw will help the council and the police deal more easily with places that are causing a problem with the volume of people outside.

"We didn't want to go down the same road as Glasgow, where the offence is committed as soon as you drink outside, but this bylaw should help tackle some of the problems we've seen without the need for a blanket ban."

The Evening News revealed earlier this month how at least one complaint a day about noisy smokers is being made to the local authority on the issue.

Councillor Sheila Gilmore, the city's antisocial behaviour leader, said: "The bylaw is not just for the city centre, it's intended to be used across the city.

"In some other parts of the country it is against the law completely to drink outdoors unless in pavement cafes, but we didn't want to be seen as killjoys.

"The police have told us that their officers will use their own judgment in every individual case and that a commonsense approach will be taken."

A spokeswoman for Lothian and Borders Police told the Evening News: "We will be duty-bound to enforce the laws as set down by the Scottish Executive, working alongside the council, but we would not like to make any further comment at this stage.

"We would welcome additional powers to help address antisocial behaviour and would actively take enforcement action where required in response to any complaints made by members of the public."

A total of 180 complaints have been made in the six months since Scotland's smoking ban came into force, of which 132 were in the past three months alone.

Council chiefs in East Lothian wrote to every licensed premises in the area in July because of complaints about noisy smokers congregating outside bars and clubs. East Lothian has a bylaw completely outlawing drinking outdoors, except in designated public places.

Plans for the bylaw have been at the centre of talks between Edinburgh council, the police and Scottish Executive officials for years.

It emerged earlier this year that the Executive was blocking the bylaw because it was out of step with blanket bans in other parts of the country. The Executive backed down and approved in principle the wording of the bylaw.