Pub landlord calls for more police action to stem ‘tidal wave of filthy behaviour’ in York

One of York’s longest-serving pub landlords has called for more robust policing in the city centre, amid widespread concerns about weekend disorder.

Shaun Collinge, of The Maltings in Tanner’s Moat, says large groups visiting the city are deterring local families from going into town at the weekend.

He said more visible and stricter policing could lead to York gaining a reputation for not tolerating aggression, abuse or disorder.

Shaun, who has run the pub since 1992, said that on Saturday evenings, crowds heading over Lendal Bridge towards the station resembled “a tidal wave of filthy behaviour”, and said the problems began early in the day at weekends.

He said:

• Too many people are getting off trains into York already half drunk, then you have a lot of people who are bringing their own alcohol and trying to add it to their drinks in pubs.

  We deal with a lot of the issue at the front door and turn a lot of groups away, but sometimes people come in and then you realise you need to micro-manage them, not to upset other customers.

  What’s the answer? It’s a societal problem, not just a York issue, and the officers will probably hate me for saying this, but I would like more robust policing on the streets in the city centre.

  I know they have dispersal orders, but what actually happens?
  

Saturated with bars

Shaun, who with wife Max has seen The Maltings win almost every pub award going, said there were now too many bars in York.

“We are fuelling our own problem by constantly granting licenses to any Tom, Dick or Harry,” he told YorkMix.

“The city centre is saturated now with bars, and the big major national operators are not interested in York as a city, they just see it as a cash cow and want to be part of it.

“It’s different when you have independent little café bars opening up, but what do the big companies bring that we don’t already have?”

Aggressive behavior

The licensing regime has changed considerably since Shaun first opened The Maltings.

“Back when Alf Peacock as licensing magistrate and Arthur Swain was at the police, they robustly protected the city centre,” he said.

“But licensing laws have changed and it’s different now. We have the Cumulative Impact Zone, but has it had any impact? We should want to get to a point where people think ‘if you go to York and you misbehave, you get locked up’.”

He added:

• It’s not an issue about numbers of people, because when you have things like Pride on, town is rammed but it’s full of people being nice.

  The issue is about behaviour of people visiting the city. Our door staff routinely deal with people who have had too much and are aggressive, and get upset when we say they can’t come in here.

  I’ve been here 27 years and I still wait for the day someone phones on a Sunday to apologise for their behaviour, but it hasn’t happened.