Booze clampdown on QPR pubs
Wednesday September 14, 2011
With QPR now in the Premier League and their Loftus Road stadium regularly sold-out, Hammersmith & Fulham Council's Licensing Sub-Committee has taken decisive action to ensure that alcohol-related trouble does not flare up.
On Monday, September 12, the committee agreed to ban glasses and glass bottles three hours before and after kick-off and prohibit the sale of booze before 11am on all matchdays at the following pubs and bars:
- The Central Bar, West 12 Shopping Centre (weekend and bank holiday matches only)
- O'Donoghues, 174 Goldhawk Road
- The White Horse, 31 Uxbridge Road
In addition, O'Donoghues, and the White Horse were told to improve their CCTV. The White Horse and O'Donoghues also had further conditions attached to their licences which specified that door supervisors should be in attendance for certain QPR matches and that drinking outside the premises was prohibited for three hours before and after QPR matches.
Hammersmith & Fulham Council has in recent years clamped down on alcohol-related antisocial behaviour in the borough by introducing controlled drinking zones, where people are not allowed to drink alcohol in the street, and a ban on super-strength booze in many off-licences, notably in Shepherds Bush.
Cllr Victoria Brocklebank-Fowler, chairman of the Licensing Sub-Committee, said: "The aims of these decisions is to ensure that irresponsible drinking by football fans is stamped out in H&F and we hope that these licensing decisions can help eradicate that problem. We have already made Hammersmith & Fulham a controlled drinking zone and will continue to stand up for the silent majority of our residents wherever we can."
Last month, similar restrictions were placed upon City Supermarket in South Africa Road and the Springbok pub near Loftus Road. The police have also made application for reviews for several other Shepherds Bush drinking establishments.
