If a licensee is trading in breach of his licence then the police can issue a closure notice under s.19 of the Criminal Justice and Police Act 2001. There has been some confusion in recent years about whether when such a notice is issued it means that the pub has to cease trading. In a recent case the Bank in Wakefield was shut 5 times after police issued closure notices because the pub did not have a female door supervisor as required by its licence. The pub claimed damages for loss of profits and succeeded in getting a court order clarifying the situation. The court said that “the service of a closure notice does not require the premises to close or cease selling alcohol immediately or entitle the Police to require it to do so or entitle the Police to arrest a person on the sole ground of non-compliance with the Notice”.
It is now clear that if you are issued with a closure notice by police this is a warning to remedy the breach of your licence condition within the period specified in the notice, usually 7 days. If you fail to do so the police may then apply to a Magistrates Court for a closure order. The original notice issued by police does not require you to cease trading but it is a warning to comply or risk being closed down.
