Bar and club bouncers to get restraint training

All new door staff must learn how to safely restrain and remove drunk and violent customers under new rules which come into force on 1 June.

The mandatory training follows a series of high profile deaths and injuries in bars and nightclubs.

"Finding ways to safely remove people from the premises benefits the public," said Bill Butler, chief executive of the Security Industry Authority (SIA).

A trade group which represents bars and clubs says the rules are inappropriate.

The Association of Licensed Multiple Retailers said it was concerned bouncers and other door staff were being treated as a cheap alternative to police officers.

Club assault 'underestimated'

The NHS and the police do not specifically record the number of people injured in bars and clubs.

But one in eight people who visit a nightclub regularly is the victim of a violent crime every year, according to the most recent British Crime Survey, compared to one in 30 in the general population.

A poll of door supervisors by the SIA found 54% had been attacked at some point in their career rising to 94% in individuals with five years service or more.

A separate study of door staff in the London borough of Camden found 40 were arrested for violent crimes while on duty in the two years to July 2009.

The SIA is aware of at least ten people who have died after being ejected from venues since 2003 although it accepts there is anecdotal evidence the real number "could be higher".

Solent University student John Jones broke his neck after being illegally restrained by a doorman at a Southampton nightclub in 2008.

"He came up behind me and put his arms around the back of my neck," he told Newsbeat. "He walked forwards and about ten feet down the corridor he fell on top of me pushing my head into my chest."

"I broke my neck which caused me to be paralysed from the shoulders down."

The doorman responsible was convicted of GBH and is now serving a four-year prison sentence.

Bouncers and other security staff already receive training in non-physical skills before they can legally work in the UK.

From 1 June that training must also include physical intervention techniques like safe restraint and ejection.

The move is part of a widespread shake-up of the door supervisor licence which now includes lessons in first aid and terrorism awareness.

The training is only compulsory for first time door staff who have never worked in the industry before.

But groups representing bars and clubs have raised doubts about the cost of the scheme and whether the lessons are appropriate in the first place.

"We deplore anything that results in an injury," said Nick Bish, the chief executive of the Association of Licensed Multiple Retailers.

"But if someone commits an assault then the law is there to prosecute them. We do not see the need for door staff to become paramedics or police. It's a step too far."

The Home Office is now consulting on measures to extend the new training to all existing bouncers with compulsory top up training every two years.

A final decision is expected over the summer.