Coronavirus: Birmingham bar's licence suspended

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Key Hill
Image caption,

The venue's licence has been suspended over coronavirus guideline breaches

A Birmingham bar has had its licence suspended after what police described as several breaches of coronavirus guidelines.

Officers said they made a number of visits to PBs on Key Hill, Hockley, in August and saw people dancing as other customers stood around.

Rules on the reopening of bars demand patrons should be seated at all times with music not played too loudly.

On Friday, the city stepped up Covid-19 alertness following a rise in cases.

Licence holder Nickeshia Reid-Davidson said she had no prior knowledge of the need for customers to be seated, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

The council suspend the licence on Wednesday following representations from police.

A licensing officer from the force said PBs was "the worst premises" in the city he had dealt with over guideline breaches.

He said: "The premises shows no actual engagement in the whole Covid process, and... I'm genuinely concerned for the health and safety of the clientele as well as myself and my officers who are dealing with this situation."

Police told the council that during a visit on 15 August, one officer saw about 30 people "inside all standing, and around half that number outside with no social distancing taking place in the premises".

A council licensing committee determined it was "reasonable" to impose the interim step of suspension "to address the immediate problems".

A full review of the premise's licence is set to take place within 28 days.

Birmingham has been labelled an "area of enhanced support" on a government watchlist amid growing concerns over a rise in coronavirus cases.

The city is to roll out more testing, with an infection rate of about 31 cases per 100,000 people last week.

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