Club House in Neath Port Talbot Faces Licence Review Over Alcohol-Related Violence and Underage Drinking

A club house in Neath Port Talbot is facing changes to its licence this month, after a string of reports relating to alcohol-related violence, noise nuisance and under-age drinking.
Glynneath Town Football Club, based in High Street, Glynneath, faced a review of its licence by Neath Port Talbot councillors on February 12, after an application was submitted by South Wales Police.
The south Wales force called for the licence review on the grounds of “the prevention of crime and disorder, public safety and the protection of children from harm.”
It followed what it said were 31 reported incidents relating to the premises, and included eight reports of alcohol-related violence, along with ten reports of under-age drinking.
One report within the review documents also highlighted a situation where staff found a knife with what was described as a six to eight inch blade hidden under a sink in one of the toilets, along with a further case where officers attended the site after reports of more than 50 people fighting outside.
Others focused on a number of under-age events that were held at the club and described as being “out of control” with officers recording cases of under age drinking, and more people being in attendance than the capacity of the venue.
The report read: “It is the belief of the police that there has been a significant, and prolonged failure of the management of the premises to promote the
licensing objective of preventing crime and disorder and that the current
designated premises supervisor has failed to take the necessary steps to
address the issues that have been highlighted.”
While the application said it did not seek to penalise a business and make it incur a financial penalty or a reduction in trade, it did say it would look to remove the current designated premises supervisor, as well as adding a number of conditions to the club’s operating license.
Some of these included conditions such as the installation of a CCTV system with recordings to be made available to the police, the maintaining of a daily register of security personnel on duty, as well as the implementation of an anti-drug policy, and further training for members of staff.
Licence holders at the club said they were open to the changes as they could be beneficial to the running of the business moving forward, with set guidelines for what they could and couldn’t do.
Members of Neath Port Talbot’s licensing committee heard representations from both South Wales Police and Glynneath Town Football Club, and will now make a decision on the review in the coming days. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​