VIOLENT drunks who attack pub staff in York should be barred from buying drinks in the city for ever.

That is the strong view of York's police chief, superintendent Jim Kilmartin, and he has publically aired it to an audience of licensees and doorstaff from the city.

He told a bi-annual meeting of police licensing magistrates and representatives of the licensing trade that any attacks on pub or club staff should be treated extremely seriously.

"If anybody assaults a landlord or pub staff in York it should be the last drink they get in this city," he said.

"At the moment I believe landlords and their staff should be sacrosanct.

"If anybody wants to have a go at landlords or their staff in my view they are volunteering to go teetotal."

He also cleared up confusion over the banning of individuals from licensed premises.

Some people convicted of violence on licensed premises are banned from all pubs covered by the York petty sessional area, whilst others are just banned from one pub or a certain area. But police have told licensees there should be no confusion over the issue - anybody banned from one pub is banned from ALL pubs.

That is because when landlords and landladies agree to their license it has five requirements on it, one of which clearly states that they should not serve banned individuals.

The requirement says: "If there is an exclusion order for violence on licensed premises then the licensee agrees that that person is excluded from every pub in the York petty sessional area."

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