Pub could lose licence after man's ear 'bitten off'

The venue had 24 letters of support from punters and local businesses

A pub could lose its licence after a man had part of his ear "bitten off".

Essex Police were called to The Chequers, in Rayleigh Road, Hutton, on May 11 at about 09:30 BST and found a man who was "missing a section of ear".

The victim alleged it was bitten off by the supervisor's partner, who was in charge of the password protected CCTV system, according to a police report.

Officers said they were unable to get the CCTV and also had concerns about the number of alleged assaults on the premises. Brentwood Borough Council will consider the future of the business at a licence review on Tuesday.

In documents submitted to the council, the police said: “Following unsuccessful attempts to access the CCTV recording and, potentially, acquire crucial evidential material, the police were unable to determine whether data was lost due to a system failure or if it had been deleted.

"The criminal investigation was subsequently closed due to a lack of evidence. It is the police contention that a culmination of concerns undermines the crime and disorder licensing objective.”

Twenty-four representations in support of the pub and its management have been made to the council from customers and local residents, the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) said.

At the meeting, the council has the option to do nothing with the pub's licence, or modify the conditions, as well as remove the premises supervisor from the licence, suspend the licence for a period not exceeding three months, or revoke the licence.

The Chequers was approached for comment by the LDRS.