Falkirk Licensing: Star Inn licence holder at hearing over no Old Firm stewards incident

A meeting of Falkirk Council’s Licensing Board yesterday (Wednesday) heard that Victoria Ure, designated premises manager of the Star Inn was seen as being “proactive and running a tight ship”.

Her personal licence was the subject of a hearing following a previous meeting in June, when the pub on Grahams Road, Falkirk, came in front of board for a second time for not having door stewards for an Old Firm game.

The Star Inn – a well-known Celtic supporters pub – was caught out on a routine inspection by police, who were checking that the pub was following conditions that had been imposed in 2016 after disorder during a game.

Those conditions mean it must have two licensed stewards on duty during any Old Firm game.

In March, members heard that the pub had been let down by the company who should have provided stewards. In April, however, Mrs Ure admitted that she had asked stewards to start at 4pm – two hours later than kick-off – in order to keep costs down.

At the June meeting of the board, it was found that the licence holder had “displayed conduct that was inconsistent with the licensing objectives”.

This meant the board was required to hold a hearing with the option to either endorse, suspend or revoke Mrs Ure’s licence if they felt it necessary.

The board was told that the strict stewarding conditions had been imposed on the pub when it was under different ownership and management and at that time there had been regular trouble on the premises.

PC Karen McLean, representing Police Scotland, said that on visits Mrs Ure had been described as being “helpful and polite” and engaged well with police.

Representing Ms Ure, solicitor Michael McDougall said: “My client has not shied away from the fact that she got it wrong – there has been no attempt to avoid blame or hide behind excuses.

“My client can only apologise and give assurances it will not happen again.”

He told the board members that the condition that was not adhered to had been imposed when the pub was under previous ownership, with long-term anti-social behaviour problems that were in no way related to the current management.

“I understand it is regarded as a well-run pub and I would suggest that Victoria plays a key part in that,” he said.

He confirmed that the pub will now seek to amend the condition but that would be dealt with at a future board meeting.

He said: “Your role here is not to seek to punish Victoria, it’s about taking positive steps to ensure that the licence conditions are complied with going forward.”

There was a split in the board with three members voting in favour of endorsing her licence but the majority agreed that no further action should be taken.