THE possibility of introducing a registration scheme for pub and club doormen in Accrington has been put on ice for the time being.

Police have been in discussion with the local authority about the merits of introducing a scheme where staff employed as doormen would have to be approved by the council and police.

Supt Malcolm Rawcliffe said implementation of a registration scheme in Accrington was impractical and at this time unnecessary, but they would continue to monitor the situation. He said: "We looked at this last year and again this year and we don't see at this moment in time a reason to introduce it.

"We have not got the problems with clubs some bigger towns have got.

"We feel we have a good relationship with town centre licensees and a reasonable relationship with the door people.

"If the situation became worse or we noticed any particular problem with door people we have agreement with the local authority to quickly reconsider this," he added.

Schemes can only be enforced by conditions placed by the council on public entertainment licenses.

Of the 10 premises in the area that regularly employ doormen, the majority do not have a public entertainment licence.

The remaining premises that could have qualified were so few that the number of doormen involved would have been less than the number of doormen at premises that do not hold an entertainment licence.

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