Wokingham

There will be red cards all round for troublemakers in Wokingham this summer.

Thames Valley Police in partnership with Wokingham District Council are set to launch a new community safety initiative through the Pubwatch scheme, allowing landlords to form a winning team in the fight against anti-social behaviour.

Binge-drinking troublemakers who have been banned from any one pub in the Wokingham Pubwatch scheme already find that they are banned from all other pubs in the group.

And now, with new radio links between the pubs and the Wokingham Police Station, local landlords can communicate with each other immediately, improving safety for residents and tackling troublemakers head-on.

Many shops and businesses in Wokingham already benefit from a communal radio link up, which is also linked to the CCTV control room at Wokingham police station and is monitored periodically by police.

This enables information sharing and helps to reduce crime and anti-social behaviour in the town centre.

When the scheme is extended on a trial basis to pubs and licensed premises in the town centre, through the Pubwatch scheme, landlords can liaise across the town to identify troublemakers and turn them away.

Wokingham District Council’s executive member for community safety Cllr Barrie Patman said: “Wokingham is a pleasant place for an evening out, especially now the World Cup is in full swing.

"Most people enjoy the summer and drink sensibly, but there are always some people who take their drinking too far.

"The radio link-up is an excellent way for landlords to spread the message that anti-social behaviour will not be tolerated in Wokingham’s pubs.”

Neighbourhood officer PC Tom Tomas was on duty this weekend (Saturday June 24) when the radios were being used for the first time.

He said: “When we are alerted by the radios, our response can be so much quicker.

"There were several instances at the weekend where a person banned from one pub, after having too much to drink and behaving anti-socially, was successfully prevented from entering any other pubs because of the speed at which a warning could be spread.

"Two arrests were made that would probably not have been possible without the extra speed the radios have given us.”

Thames Valley Police ~ Wokingham