THE police want the two licensing boards in the Borders to give clear advice to pub and hotel operators on how to handle smokers congregating outside licensed premises, writes Andrew Keddie.
At yesterday's meeting of the west division board in Newto
wn St Boswells, Inspector Paula Clark said such gatherings had led to a marked increase in complaints of noise and nuisance since the smoking ban in public places was introduced in March.
Reporting on behalf of Chief Constable Paddy Tomkins, Insp. Clark went on: "This has been caused by the presence of customers standing in the street to smoke. While this can be a problem in itself, it has also become common for smokers to take their drinks outside and be joined by their friends, also with drinks."
She said officers had found themselves dealing with up to 30 people on pavements, spilling on to public roads.
"The Scottish Executive envisioned a cafe culture of sensible alcohol consumption ... but, in the short term, a different public drinking situation has resulted."
Insp. Clark said it was explicit in the conditions for late drinking licenses that premises should not permit alcohol to be taken outside after 11pm. She said police called to incidents had reminded licensees of this responsibility and this had improved the situation at night.
"But problems remain for the hours leading up to this time," she added.
"Now we have had time to assess this particular consequence of the smoking ban, I would ask the board to consider offering clear guidance to licence holders as to what (the board believes] is acceptable practice."
At the time of going to press, the response to that plea had not been discussed, but earlier the board heard more encouraging news in the fight against alcohol misuse.
Insp. Clark said police now kept a database of all licensed businesses linked to the number and severity of incidents which had occurred there. Premises then identified are offered specialist training from police officers and members of the NHS Drug and Alcohol Team.
"This gives us the opportunity to identify potential problems and monitor the effectiveness of the training given," she explained. Although the service is at an early stage, five premises have been visited and have responded positively to the intervention.
There was encouragement also on the under-age drinking front, with incidents down from 78 to 46 in Ettrick and Lauderdale and from 48 to 10 in Tweeddale, compared to the corresponding third quarter of 2005.
But Insp. Clark warned: "We must not be complacent – the number of complaints of drunk youths and disorder still far outnumbers the number of those apprehended – and the problem is persistent.
"Along with colleagues in the ambulance service, we continue to deal with young people so under the influence they are in danger of serious harm."
