Bar shut down after police find drunks serving punters

A PUB where customers were said to have been caught serving themselves has been closed down for three months by licensing chiefs.

Police had called for action to be taken against the Balfour Bar on Leith Walk after reporting a series of more than a dozen separate incidents.

In one case, police told the licensing board that they discovered "drunken patrons serving themselves and others behind the bar".

A series of altercations were also reported by police and one incident is said to have resulted in a customer suffering permanent disfigurement after having a pint glass smashed in his face.

The three month suspension, handed out by the Capital's licensing board, comes amid growing concern about the level of crime taking place within some of the pubs on Leith Walk and local representatives hope that the three month suspension will send out a message to other pub operators in the area.

Councillor Angela Blacklock, who represents the Leith Walk ward, said: "I have raised issues about community safety on Leith Walk with police through the local neighbourhood partnership and I realise after speaking to police that they are directing their efforts on pubs on Leith Walk because that seems to be where the problem is

"There has been a change in culture from police because they are now going into pubs more often and that is perhaps why they have been able to build up as much evidence as they have in this case.

"Most pubs on Leith Walk are stringent but, for the minority that think they can get away with things, this sends a message out that they won't and that they have to manage their licensed premises properly."

Another incident at the Balfour Bar that was reported to licensing chiefs by police concerned an appeal carried out in the area for a missing person judged to be "high risk".

Officers claim they had been in the bar and left photographs of the missing woman with staff, then later traced her within the pub with her partner and discovered that she had been drinking in the bar regularly for a month.

Councillor Marjorie Thomas, the city's licensing leader, said: "The board took the view that the bar should be issued with a suspension.

"This follows a number of incidents, including a severe attack where a member of the public received permanent disfigurement after having a pint glass smashed in his face."

A spokeswoman for Lothian and Borders Police said: "A series of incidents at the Balfour Bar on Leith Walk gave rise to concerns regarding the operation and management of the premises. As a result we requested the licence be reviewed." According to police figures, Leith Walk is one of only five parts of the city to have seen an increase in crime in the last year.

The Balfour Bar is owned by Kirkcaldy-based pub operator Kingdom Taverns, which leases the building to an individual pub landlord to run. Nobody at the Fife firm was available for comment.