PUB landlords were today warned to ensure their customers' safety at Christmas - or face the courts.

The message comes after the prosecution of a Blackburn licensee for breaching his public entertainment licence after inspectors found firefighting equipment, emergency exits, toilets and water supply failed to come up to scratch.

Several other licensees have received cautions or warnings in recent months and some have accused the council of being heavy-handed.

But officials say public safety is paramount, especially over the next few weeks when more people than ever flock to the town's pubs.

Blackburn with Darwen Council caused a storm last year when it insisted on pubs installing high-tech pyro-wiring at a cost of thousands of pounds to landlords before a licence will be issued.

Council leader Coun Bill Taylor said: "As we move into the festive period, more and more workers, families and friends' celebrations are taking place and it is our responsibility as a council to ensure that they are conducted in the most safe and secure environment.

"We will not hesitate to take action against any licensee who endangers the safety of the public."

Daniel Hook, of Cellar Bar, King Street, was fined £2,000 with £400 costs by Blackburn magistrates for breaching his public entertainment licence.

He said when he was inspected it was an extremely busy weekend and was impossible to keep on top of things.

After the case, he said: "The council should be working with pubs not against them.

"There hasn't been a change in the law, it's just them interpreting the guidelines in an overly-strict way."

Council policy aims to ensure 90 per cent of all premises with an entertainment licence meet the grade.

They check for things like health and safety, fire codes, if a landlord is providing the correct form of entertainment and that it does not disturb residents.

Coun Maureen Bateson, executive member for citizenship and consumer rights, welcomed the prosecution.

She said: "The council is keen to work with businesses to provide advice and support to ensure that they can operate within the law. However where businesses fail to follow that advice or situations arise where public safety is compromised, we have no hesitation in enforcing those legal requirements.

"There are over 80 premises licensed for public entertainment within Blackburn with Darwen. During this year cautions and written warnings have been given to several premises."

But it is not the only authority to get tough on pubs. Westminster City Council fined Wolverhampton & Dudley Breweries £5,000 when officials saw people dancing in two central London Pitcher and Piano pubs two weeks ago.

The brewery pleaded guilty and was fined £2,500 for each offence plus costs of £1,600 because the two pubs did not have an entertainment licence.

Derek Haworth, chairman of Blackburn Licensed Victuallers Association and landlord of the Fox and Hounds Hotel, in Ewood, said he welcomed any action that would make premises safer for the public.

But he also said that the council had a history of being overly strict when it came to public entertainment licences.

He said: "I don't know why, but the council has a bee in its bonnet about this type of thing.

"If they spent as much time sorting out the problems in the town centre, such as the traffic, as they do on pubs, the town wouldn't be in such a mess."

A spokesman for the British Beer and Pub Association said: "The entertainment licence is set out by guidelines coming from government. Each council interprets them and some are stricter than others.

"The new Bill looking at reform of the licensing industry, currently under review in parliament, should remove a lot of the differences."