ERITH: Bar served drinks illegally for three months (From News Shopper)

Erith's Potion Bar escapes removal of its drinks licence

7:03pm Thursday 7th April 2011 in Bexley

A BAR with a history of drugs and violent incidents has escaped losing its licence.

Police claimed Potion Bar, formerly the White Hart pub in Erith High Street, had been the focus for problems virtually since it had opened in September 2008.

Bexley’s licensing officer PC Eddy Boston told a Bexley Council licensing sub-committee on Monday bad management had been responsible.

Among the incidents were numerous fights and assaults; a drunken man driving his car into the bar’s plate glass windows; drug dealing, including a bag of ketamine discarded in the beer garden; failing test purchases by under-age customers and complaints from nearby residents, of loud music and customers fighting.

PC Boston also claimed the bar had been serving drinks illegally for three months at the end of last year, because it did not have a designated premises supervisor (DPS), but had failed to tell anyone.

Bexley’s environmental health department was also concerned about loud music being relayed into the street, missing manhole covers resulting in a smell of raw sewage, lack of hot water in the toilets, standing water on the men’s toilet floor, substantial drugs contamination in the toilets and the bar area and locked toilets in the first floor function area.

On behalf of the bar owners, Metropolitan Bars, Robert Sutherland said the nature of the more recent incidents at the bar last year, had changed, showing the management had got control of the violence and drug problems.

But one particular cause for concern had been an incident on Christmas Day when a woman and her six-month-old baby, who had been reported missing by her partner, had been found extremely drunk in the private quarters of the pub after closing time.

Mr Sutherland said the staff member responsible had been sacked.

He said the company had appointed a new area manager and DPS who were taking the task very seriously and there had been no reported incidents since their appointment The sub committee decided to add new conditions to the bar’s licence and there will be extra training for staff and regular meetings with police.