Troublemakers will get instant club ban

Troublemakers who pick fights or do drugs at any of Blackpool's gay pubs and clubs will face an instant ban from all venues, thanks to a new plan to crack down on anti-social behaviour in the town centre.
The cast of Funny Girls 2017The cast of Funny Girls 2017
The cast of Funny Girls 2017

Funny Girls, Flamingo, The Flying Handbag, Sapphires, Buzz, Kaos, Peek-A-Booze, The Whippet Inn, The Imperial and the R-Bar have all volunteered for a new scheme which will see rowdy patrons who are banned from one venue banned from them all.

Bannable offences include drug use, fighting, aggressive behaviour and criminal damage.

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The scheme, which was discussed at a meeting on Thursday, aims to speed up the banning process currently used by the National PubWatch.

Dean Bennett, general manager at Funny Girls in Dickson Road, said: “If you want to bar somebody through PubWatch, it’s a long process and there could be any number of offences committed during that time. The system we plan on implementing will stop people in their tracks straight away.

“All venues would be contacted that are currently involved. CCTV will be shared and if the person is known to us all staff will be notified.

“If somebody is an offender, within 24 hours they are barred from the venues involved.

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“We think 100 per cent it will crack down on anti-social behaviour. If they are not allowed in the venues they don’t generally stand outside; they will move on.”

Funny Girls’ owner Basil Newby added: “We have no police presence in the Dickson Road area after 3am, so if police are not available after that time we have to look at other ways of dealing with crime.”