Bar escapes closure by licensing officials
A RAFT of conditions has been imposed on a bar in Harborough which avoided having its drinks licence suspended.
Evolution in St Mary’s Road in Harborough were called before a Licensing Hearing Panel following problems with underage drinking at the club.
It emerged at the hearing that police became aware of underage drinking on the property when a sixth form party was held at Evolution by Robert Smyth Academy pupils in September.
More than 250 young people, many of them well under the age of 18, had turned up at the venue after a girl had sold tickets to a sixth form party.
The incident resulted in PC Malc Roberts trying to control children who were left outside the club.
Co-owner of the bar, Mark Robinson said the incident had been the result of one girl being on a “look how popular I am” exercise and admitted the night had been awful as many of the pupils had been drinking before turning up at the venue.
The Evolution club also failed a test-purchase operation in May last year, when a barman was given an £80 fine for selling alcohol to a minor.
The panel heard the case at Harborough District Council last Thursday where joint owners, Mark Robinson and Gavin Jagger defended their position and said they had already made a number of positive changes at the club.
The issue of drug use at the club was raised during the meeting but Mr Robinson said it was no longer a problem as they conducted regular toilet checks and coated surfaces with cooking oil to prevent cocaine use.
Police had called for the licence to be suspended while staff undertook further training but the panel did not follow this recommendation.
During the hearing a representative of the police said Evolution had gained a reputation as a place where underage drinking took place and that incidents such as the Robert Smyth Academy party and failure of the test purchasing operation were evidence of this.
The club is now hoping to open during the daytime as a coffee bar and re-brand in a bid to attract older customers.
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Monday 21 May 2012
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