This week I would like to focus on the fantastic work of the Newham Police Licensing Unit.

Newham has over 450 licensed premises (including bars, pubs and shops selling alcohol), 19 nightclubs and over 250 restaurants and takeaways with late licences.

Based at East Ham Town Hall, the team work alongside a variety of other agencies, including the London Borough of Newham Licensing Unit, Trading Standards, Environmental Health and Planning and HMRC to monitor the activity of premises licensed to serve alcohol and to strictly enforce the law where necessary.

London’s night-time economy brings huge social and economic benefits to local communities, and with an average of two pubs closing a week in London due to the current financial climate, it is essential that Newham’s licensed premises are supported in providing valuable and lawful services.

In the last three months, the team, along with LBN Licensing and Trading Standards have seized over 1,700 litres of alcohol and 100,000 cigarettes, which were either counterfeit or had not had the duty paid on them.

This has not only prevented great harm to public health (counterfeit alcohol has previously been found to contain bleach and anti-freeze amongst other things) but is another way that Newham Police are cracking down on crimes that have international connections.

The Licensing Unit works closely with local licensees and business owners, as well as PubWatch, to ensure that Newham’s licensed premises remain lively, thriving and safe.

With the recent addition of the many bustling restaurants and bars in Westfield and the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, Newham will soon be the ‘Southbank’ of the East!

Next week I will talk about another smaller unit of officers that does important and often unseen work, searching for missing people.