Merseyside Police and St Helens Council Welcome Revocation of Licence for St Helens Bar

Merseyside Police, and St Helens Council as the licensing authority, jointly welcome the revocation of a licence for a St Helens bar with links to crime, disorder and violence.

Since December 2018, The Breeze Bar in Ormskirk Street had seen a high number of incidents involving crime, disorder and violence, including an assault in August 2019 in which a man suffered a broken cheekbone.

Merseyside Police and the licensing authority worked closely with the Licence Holder to address these problems, however issues continued to arise. A decision was therefore made to apply for a review of the premises licence, which took place last week and the Licencing Committee decided to revoke the premises licence. This revocation is subject to the right of appeal.

Merseyside Police Licensing Officer Samantha Cushion said: "We're really pleased with this outcome, and hope that it sends a strong message to all Licence Holders in St Helens. We will work closely alongside our local authorities to hold bars and clubs to account when they are endangering the safety of people in the community. The vast majority of Licence Holders share our determination to make their premises as safe and welcoming as possible.

"We are proactive in our approach to addressing issues of poor management, crime and disorder within all licenced premises. Such a decision to request the revocation of a licence is not taken lightly and we have given the Breeze Bar a stepped and proportionate approach to deal with the problems, but sadly seen no consistent improvements over 12 months.

“We believe that the number and seriousness of incidents reported meant that someone would have been seriously hurt if this bar continued to operate.

Councillor Jeanie Bell, Cabinet Member for Community Safety at St Helens Council, said: "We want people choosing to come to St Helens Town Centre at night time to have a safe environment to enjoy themselves. The majority of visits to our town centre are trouble free and the licensing authority works closely with all businesses in the area to make sure visitors have the a positive experience in our town centre and take a zero tolerance approach going forward to those people out to cause trouble.

“We have some fantastic drinking and eating establishments in St Helens Town Centre and across the borough; I don't want those owners and staff to feel they are working hard maintaining high standards only to have other premises letting our borough down.

“The licensing authority has been working closely with our partners at Merseyside Police and the licensee to try and address the concerns around this premises but unfortunately there was not enough progress. This action shows that we are not afraid to take action where we think a business does not meet our high expectations for licensed premises in our town."

If you have any information on crime and disorder at licenced premises, call 999 if a crime is in action, or pass information on via local officers, our social media desk @MerPolCC, or anonymously via Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 and we will take positive action.