Six face pubs ban after drugs clamp

SIX people could be banned from every pub in Oldham after a crackdown on drug takers and dealers in Saddleworth.

The results are revealed in a special report to the Saddleworth and Lees district executive by the Saddleworth Neighbourhood Policing Team in partnership with Oldham Council and voluntary bodies.

The police-led operation was part of a Zerozone initiative which saw increased patrols focusing on the night time economy in Uppermill in the lead up to Christmas.

And the report reveals police predictions of incidents and arrests were almost exclusively concentrated on High Street, Uppermill.

The report says: "As a direct result of the initiative we have identified six persons who are to be put forward for bans under the pubwatch scheme for a raft of offences related to the night time economy at Saddleworth.

"Now the Saddleworth scheme is linked to Oldham it won't just be bans from the Saddleworth licensed establishments it will be bans from the whole of Oldham's pubs clubs and bars.

"The feedback received says we have put the drug dealers on the back foot at Saddleworth and we have pushed out to the fringes the hard core users out of the public eye and in some respects out of pubs and bars.

"In doing so we have achieved our short term goals but we will not be complacent," the report adds.

'The Zerozone initiative will go from strength to strength and is now being rolled out across the entire Oldham Metropolitan Borough area.

"Licensees have seen an increase in visible support sensitive and subtle to each establishment.

"We have tried to ensure a 'one size fits all' approach was not what we wanted. Licencees run their own establishments knowing substantive support was close by on hand if necessary."

A number of premises carried out their own cocaine swabbing procedures allowing them to map toilet usage by people engaged in nasal ingestion.

"This is an almost immediate damping down of activity in pubs and bars.

"One licensee reported a complete change in his establishment from one where there were a number of suspected users with frequent trips to the toilet area to a new clientele coming through the doors.

"Drug dealing activity has been displaced considerably out of the villages to more isolated locations where the risk of standing out is all the more possible," said the report.

"A clear message went out across our social media any persons coming to Saddleworth with the intention of dealing drugs would be dealt with in a robust manner and the weight of the law would be applied to the letter. "