Two actors visited ten pubs in Bexley, southeast London, and managed to get served in every one of them despite reeking of alcohol, slurring their words, fumbling their change and shoving other customers on their way to the bar.

They later repeated the performance at a conference for local publicans and bar managers who insisted, unanimously, that they would be refused service and asked to leave. They were stunned when a senior police officer revealed: “You’ve already served them.”

Under current legislation, bar staff caught serving alcohol to intoxicated drinkers are liable for an £80 fixed penalty notice or a fine of up to £1,000.

Although the bar staff served the hired actors they can not be prosecuted because they were not actually drunk.

John Madden, chairman of the licensed trade body Guild of Master Victuallers, condemned the exercise as a waste of police time.

He said: ”It is a terrible idea and I am surprised the police think it is worth doing. They cannot prosecute anyone for serving an actor who is pretending to be drunk.

”I’m really not happy with this. At the end of the day it’s entrapment, but it’s entrapment where the staff haven’t done anything wrong because the actor isn’t even drunk.”

The fake drunks were hired from a local amateur dramatic group by Bexley Borough Council and Bexley Police, part of the Metropolitan Police, ahead of a seminar with 100 landlords, club managers and restaurant owners, on drink-related crime.

Chief Inspector Stephen Murrant, who organised the initiative, said: “I am disappointed that despite our efforts to educate and support licensees that staff saw fit to serve two outrageously behaved drunken actors.

“This has come as no surprise. In a recent survey of bar staff carried out in the borough, 98 per cent said they saw drunk customers on some or most of their shifts.

“We routinely monitor what goes on in all our licensed premises and we will be robust in our actions if we find licensees or their staff fuelling alcohol related disorder by serving customers who are drunk.”

Clive Cain, head of public protection at Bexley Council, said: ”Whilst it is illegal to serve a drunk, the law does not define when someone is drunk. This pioneering initiative has demonstrated the ease with which drunks can be served. It has highlighted the urgent need for improvements in training, advice and managerial support for bar staff.”

Section 141 of the Licensing Act 2003 bans the sale of alcohol to a person who is drunk. Bexley Police say the force rarely prosecutes landlords but reports findings to the council, which takes such instances into consideration when considering renewing licences to serve alcohol.

Scott Mackenzie, manager of the Blue Anchor in Bexley, claims it is getting more difficult for landlords because an increasing number of customers are drinking heavily before going to the pub. He claims cheap alcohol sold by supermarkets is the real problem.

He said: ”In my car park, every day we have to clear up bottles of this and that, which people drank before they came to the pub.”

Bexley Police are planning to step up their undercover initiative for the World Cup.

Suzi says:  This does highlight a problem with a lack of awareness and training within licensed premises.  It is ultimately the responsibility of the Designated Premises Supervisor (DPS) to ensure that staff are aware of the law and the consequences of “ignoring” the law.  With the grandfather rights that were handed out when the Licensing Act 2003 was introduced, many DPS, managers and other Personal Licence Holders are actually totally unaware of what the law says.  There are several courses which are ideal for bar staff and other employees of licensed premises that cover the Act and would also cover a premises with their “due diligence”.  beSmart Training offer courses for Personal Licence Holders as well as the BIIAB Award in Responsible Alcohol Retail (ideal for staff who don’t require a personal licence), and the BIIAB Level 2 National Certificate for Designate Premises Supervisors.

Judge Philip Parker QC told Andrew Baker that his company, Inter Park UK, was nothing more than a simple con which had left its victims feeling robbed and bullied.

The judge criticised the rogue clamper for leaving motorists stranded and distressed.

Baker, of Pithall Road, Shard End, Birmingham, pleaded guilty at a previous hearing to conspiracy to defraud drivers in Birmingham and other parts of the West Midlands between March 2007 and March 2008.

The 29-year-old, who has previous convictions for robbery, obtaining property by deception, harassment and theft, showed no emotion as he was sentenced.

A previous hearing was told that Baker left 36 victims – including some who had paid and displayed – in a state of distress after conning them out of more than £12,000.

Passing sentence, Judge Parker told the convicted burglar that he accepted the clamping business had operated legitimately when it was set up in 2005.

But the judge added that operation then became a “con” in which motorists parked legitimately saw their vehicles clamped and towed away before being held to ransom for up to £445.

The judge told Baker: “You were not in fact licensed for this activity, as it is accepted you should have been.

“Your website was a travesty of the truth, suggesting as it did that you worked closely with Trading Standards and the police.

“It’s plain by this fraud that in effect you illegally impounded people’s cars, not just causing them distress and inconvenience, but naturally feelings of real loss and panic.

“People felt held to ransom – the victims felt they had been bullied, felt that they had been robbed in ordinary terms, or as the prosecution opened it, fleeced.”

The business was operating as a simple scam with a false cloak of legitimacy, the judge said, ruling the offences to a confidence fraud.

“This to my mind is professional offending – there is a failure to respond to warnings… there is an abuse of power… there are multiple victims and in the end one can see this case as a ruthless exploitation of vulnerable persons,” he added.

Two other men who worked for Inter Park UK were also before the court and were each fined £500 after admitting one count of fraud.

The prosecution followed an investigation by Birmingham City Council’s Trading Standards department, which had received numerous complaints from furious motorists who felt they had been unfairly clamped or towed away by Inter Park UK.

Inter Park UK operated at numerous sites in Birmingham and Wolverhampton, where warning signs could not be seen easily, as well as clamping cars at three locations were it had no contractual right to do so.

Among those who fell victim to the firm were Christmas shoppers at a site in New Canal Street, Birmingham, who were told they had parked “inches over the line” even though the lines were not clearly painted.

On one occasion in February 2008, Inter Park UK removed several cars on what turned out to be land owned by Walsall Council, which had no agreement with the firm.

Birmingham City Council believes that Inter Park UK may have been netting up to £3,000 per day and that many motorists were so intimidated that they did not contact the authorities.

In a statement, Councillor Neil Eustace, Birmingham’s Chair of Public Protection, called for greater powers to allow the authority to regulate the car-clamping sector.

Mr Eustace said: “Birmingham City Council’s Public Protection Committee has made several representations to the government calling for further regulations to curb the excessive practices still engaged in by a number of clamping companies, and the misery that they ultimately cause to their victims.”

Suzi says: It’s people like this that have brought the whole profession of vehicle immobilisation into disrepute.  There are many vehicle immobiliser organiations who operate ligitimate and professional companies with only licenced operatives.  With the Governments proposals to licence vehicle immobiliser companies soon, the profession will become even more legitimate, although we all know that everyone will still love to hate a clamper.  beSmart Training offer top-class vehicle immobiliser training on a regular basis.  We would like to think that all the people we have trained adhere to their training and offer a fair and legitimate service.

It has not yet been decided if physical intervention will be compulsory refresher training for licensed door supervisors, but following the consultation earlier this year, there is an announcement expected in the next few months.

Why not enrol now and be ahead of the game.  Also become trained to the same level as door supervisors WILL be trained to from June 2010 onwards.

beSmart’s physical intervention course is accepted as accredited prior learning for the new door supervisor qualification and only costs £100.00 plus VAT for the one-day course, including all handbooks and certification.

If you’re interested, please call Sue on 020 7237 6007, or book online at www.besmart-training.co.uk/physical-intervention-training/.

Paul Bartley, 25, of Plumpton Street, Wakefield, was found guilty of malicious wounding and grievous bodily harm.

The victim, a 30-year-old man, had been in the Mission nightclub toilets last August when he was approached by Bartley and asked to leave the premises.

After a row, Bartley punched the man causing serious facial injuries.

PC Amy Spencer, from British Transport Police, said: “This was a completely unprovoked, vicious assault on a member of the public who had simply gone on a night out to enjoy himself with friends.

“As a door supervisor, Bartley’s role was to ensure the safety of members of the public attending the club. He abused his position and authority and obviously thought he was above the law.”

Bartley has also had his Security Industry Authority (SIA) door supervisors’ license revoked.

Suzi says…

This is exactly the kind of door supervisor we do NOT need in the industry.  Door supervisors are employed to ensure staff and customers are safe and should be professional at all times.  Contrary to popular belief, with cetain obvious exceptions, door supervisors are no longer the thugs and bullies of yesteryear.   They are well trained professionals who are licensed by the Government to undertake a very difficult, and at time dangerous, job.   It is about time the law started punishing the old-school “bouncers” who do still think it’s acceptable to slap people around.  Perhaps then the message will get through that this kind of behaviour is unacceptable.  beSmart Training regularly runs courses for people who want to become door supervisors.  We have over fifty years experience in door supervision between us and we pride ourselves on providing good, professional and thorough training that will benefit any door supervisor in their chosen career.