CO-OPERATION among members of the local Pubwatch scheme means anyone banned from one of the 21 local pubs and clubs showing the World Cup will be excluded from all of the members’ venues (approximately 50).
Covering the majority of pubs and clubs in Tunbridge Wells town centre, as well as premises at North Farm and several pubs around Paddock Wood, Pubwatch have co-ordinated their World Cup plans with police and local authorities.
Restaurants, off-licences and late-night takeaways are also members of the scheme, which is part of the Safe Town Partnership’s (STP) Business Crime Reduction Scheme.
Pubwatch director Jack Smith said: “Football tournaments attract several thousand people to the licensed premises in Tunbridge Wells.
“Historically, we have had very little disorder and I hope that this year will be no exception.”
Anyone arrested and charged for a violent offence in a licensed premises during the tournament will be considered for an exclusion notice, which is a 12-month ban from all member premises.
Exclusion notices would also be expedited, preventing any offender from entering any Pubwatch venue to watch the next game.
STP’s Business Crime Manager Roz Heaton told the Times: “We only do expedited exclusions during football tournaments in order to protect people. We have done it since 2006 and have only issued two.”
The first matches in the tournament kick-off this weekend (November 20) in Qatar. The World Cup is normally held in the summer months, when daylight hours are longest in the Northern Hemisphere. With this tournament taking place during the longer hours of darkness and coinciding with the run-up to Christmas, venues are making additional preparations.
Some local venues will operate ticketed entry for matches, and several venues will have security on the door.
Extra security officers, working in partnership with police, will be ready to respond to calls for assistance from venues without a door supervisor.
VENUES SHOWING THE WORLD CUP
Pitcher & Piano, Church Road
The Compasses, Little Mt Sion
The Beau Nash, Mt Ephraim
The Black Horse, Camden Road
The Opera House (Wetherspoons), Mt Pleasant Road
The Sussex Arms, Sussex Mews, The Pantiles
The Robin Hood, Sandhurst Road
Framptons, The Pantiles
The Bedford, High Street
The Royal Oak, Prospect Road
Cassidy’s, Castle Street
The Rose & Crown, Grosvenor Road
Aura Nightclub, High Street
The Claremont, Grove Hill Road
Tyber’s Reggae Bar, Nevill Street
The Allotment, St James’ Road
The Townhouse, Calverley Road
The George, Mt Ephraim
Saint John’s Yard, St John’s Road
Shuffle House, St John’s Road (Only South American teams’ matches)
The White Bear, High Street
