Not us, guv!

Published on 14th September 2006 in News

The owners of Bojangles in Howden have hit back at recent claims that the wine bar on Vicar Lane is largely to blame for the destructive behaviour taking place in parts of the town.

It was reported in this newspaper last week that Vicar Lane resident Jack Firminger, and another resident who did not wish to be named, were tired of putting up with abusive behaviour as people moved between pubs. Mr Firminger had even resorted to temporarily covering his windows up after panes of "historic and irreplaceable" glass were smashed.

However, Darren Smith, who owns Bojangles along with Julie Wood, told this newspaper that the comments made were "completely unfounded", and argued that the bar was very strict about sticking to its licensing conditions.

He said: "It is absolutely ridiculous to assume that problems due to drunken behaviour in Howden are being caused by Bojangles.

"We are the only licensed premises in Howden employing door staff, we have CCTV operating and recording 24 hours a day, including two cameras on Vicar Lane, and we have a zero tolerance policy on drugs.

"Our customers are also customers of other licensed premises in the town centre, which makes Mr Firminger's accusations towards us even more surprising when he is central to the whole weekend drinking circuit, with two of the pubs closer than Bojangles."

Mr Smith went on to explain that there were notices on each exit asking customers to respect residents when leaving; a member of staff checked noise levels outside the bar every two hours at weekends.

He agreed with Roger Watkins, chairman of Howden Civic Society, who would like to see policing throughout the town in the evening, and said that "adolescents roaming the streets" were more likely to blame for the vandalism that Mr Firminger had suffered.

However, Mr Smith added that despite his efforts to operate responsibly, there was still a handful of people who would be happy if Bojangles did not exist.

"These people think that if they complain enough, whether justified or not, it could in time affect our licence," he said.

"This is exactly what we are up against - if some residents have any complaints to make, they phone the police straight away before coming to us, and they have sometimes later found out that we weren't even responsible in the first place.

"I understand there is a problem but we can't get blamed for everything that happens in Howden. We're in exactly the same boat as the residents because we don't want any trouble either."

Mr Smith said that Bojangles was an active member of Howden Pubwatch. In order to keep trouble at bay, his business was to continue operating within the licensing conditions and he worked closely with both Pubwatch and other licensees.

He added: "Just stop pointing the finger of blame at Bojangles; Howden's problems are not our fault."

(See letter page 17)