A BEXLEY Village bar has had its licence suspended following a a drunken brawl in the village on St George’s Day, involving up to 300 drinkers.
Bexley police asked for an emergency Bexley Council licensing sub-committee hearing this afternoon (April 24) which suspended the drinks licence at the Trax Bar in Mill Row, off Bexley Village High Street, as of 6pm tonight.
The suspension will last until a full review hearing of the bar’s licence is held. But that date has yet to be fixed.
Every St George’s Day the bar hosts a party and yesterday was no exception. By lunchtime partygoers were already celebrating.
Police began receiving calls from the public at round 8pm about a disturbance outside the bar.
A police car was dispatched and when officers arrived, they found up to 40 people fighting.
The car then came under a hail of bottles and missiles from the 300-strong crowd and some windows were broken.
The officers withdrew and called for back-up.
Up to 100 police officers were called in from central London and other boroughs, including the Territorial Support Group in full riot gear, police dogs and the Met Police helicopter.
As the drinkers started moving towards the High Street, police put up cordons at strategic points to contain the crowd.
Other pubs in the village agreed to close their doors, keeping existing customers inside, while officers tried to disperse the drinkers left out in the street.
The village pubs were then allowed to release their customers before closing their doors for the night.
Meanwhile pubs in Bexleyheath Broadway, and some in Sidcup, also shut up shop in case of further trouble.
Inspector Steve Murrant, who is in charge of licensing in the borough, said the crowd gradually drifted away after realising they would not be able to get a drink anywhere else locally.
Mr Murrant was in no doubt about who was to blame for the trouble.
He told News Shopper: “People were drinking to excess and the premises was mismanaged.
“When the bar became aware the large crowd was still growing and things were getting out of hand, it made no attempt to contact the police for help.
“It was members of the public who called police.”
He said he was very disappointed at the incident, but added he had been very encouraged by the way the other licensees in the area had reacted and had worked with the police to help contain the trouble.
Many publicans used the new village Pub Safe scheme to keep each other informed of what was happening.
Mr Murrant said there were several rumours circulating about the cause of the fighting.
Some have claimed British National Party supporters were to blame, but others say it was trouble between rival football fans.
Three arrests were made and one person was taken to hospital with minor injuries.
