A Brighton seafront venue hopes to serve up drinks for Halloween but the police want the haunt to be without spirits – or wine or beer.
The Brighton Zip, in Madeira Drive, has served a temporary event notice (TEN) on Brighton and Hove City Council for this weekend, the Halloween weekend and the weekend after.
This would give the venue, which does not currently have a premises licence, the legal right to serve alcohol.
In response, Sussex Police has asked the council to serve a counter-notice – in effect, to tell the zipwire operator that it can’t sell alcohol over the three weekends.
The matter is due to be resolved on Wednesday (20 October) when a council licensing panel is scheduled to hold a hearing – the second for the zipwire in just over a month.
The seafront visitor attraction previously had a licence to sell alcoholic drinks but it lapsed when the site’s operator changed hands from one company, Happyvale, to another called Madeira Leisure.
The old licence included “restaurant” conditions, restricting the sale of drinks to people having substantial food.
But the police said that officers had found that the business had breached the conditions of its licence three separate times in August when licensing inspections found drinks served without a meal.
Last month, the Brighton Zip served TENs covering three weekends but the council only permitted the venue to serve drinks on the third of those weekends.
Inspector Michelle Palmer-Harris said that she was concerned that the latest temporary event notice did not include “restaurant” conditions.
Inspector Palmer-Harris wrote to the council’s licensing team to object because the Brighton Zip had proposed “café” conditions instead – and had applied for a new premises licence also with “café” conditions.
Food would have to be available and drinks would have to be served by waiting staff and be consumed at a table but customers would not be required to buy any food.
Inspector Palmer-Harris said: “Sussex Police continue to have no confidence that the premises will be run in a responsible manner.”
She was also concerned that the three weekends included Halloween which, she said, required a larger police operation in Brighton than New Year’s Eve.
And the Brighton Zip had not given sufficient information about what extra measures it would take to ensure that it did not add to problems with crime, disorder and drunkenness in the area.
The venue wants to be able to serve drinks from noon to 11.30pm over three weekends. The dates are Saturday (23 October) and Sunday (24 October), Saturday 30 October and Sunday 31 October as well as Saturday 6 November and Sunday 7 November.
Its as if the council and Police don’t want tourism in this area. I avoid it now as its so run down.