Residents Meet over Town Centre Drinking

2.00.07pm BST (GMT +0100) Tue 2nd Sep 2003

On Tuesday evening (tonight) there will be a public meeting of Twickenham town centre residents, chaired by Vincent Cable, MP, to discuss the problems caused by the growing numbers of pubs and clubs, and young drinkers, in the town centre.

Last week Vincent Cable, with the town centre manager John Austin and Councillor Denise Carr of Riverside ward, met a group of town centre licensees to discuss how to improve standards and deter anti social drinking.

Vincent Cable said that he was "pleased by the co-operative attitude of the publicans. Responsibility for enforcing standards lies with the police, who should be more in evidence on a Friday and Saturday night, the magistrates court and the council which will soon have overall responsibility for both drinks and entertainment licences."

"But the licensees need to demonstrate self discipline. There is a local group called Pub Watch that should become the focal point for combined efforts to stop trouble makers and underage drinkers gaining access; to notify others by radio of trouble in the area; to stop steep discounting of drinks, which encourages silly behaviour; and to ensure that customers are fully informed about how to get taxis or public transport."

"I was pleasantly surprised by the positive attitude of all the licensees who have clearly got the message that, if they don't crack down on anti social behaviour in their establishments, licences will be lost".