COUNCILLORS have given a mixed reception to the idea that the Iron Duke pub in Wellington will only use door supervisors when necessary – rather than them being there on a permanent basis at weekends.

The Iron Duke – a Wetherspoons pub – has asked Somerset Council for permission to change its licensing arrangements so that it only needs to employ security when “deemed necessary.”

The application states that “the premises licence holder will risk assess on an ongoing basis the requirement for door supervisors at the premises and use door supervisors in such numbers and at such times as deemed necessary by the risk assessment.

“Any reasonable police request for the reinstatement of door supervisors shall be considered in the risk assessment.”

Although members of Wellington Town Council’s policy and finance committee were relatively supportive of the application when they discussed it on May 13, they felt that if police asked for door security to be working then that should be acted upon and not left to the discretion of the Iron Duke’s management.

Cllr John Thorne said: “I wasn’t too happy with this to be honest and it just seems to me that it’s a cost-saving measure. I don’t like where they say it’s up to them to decide when they are going to safeguard the public. I feel they will be reluctant to have security on the door unless they are made to do so. If the police want them to have security then they should.”

The mayor, Cllr Mark Lithgow, was concerned about what would happen if something serious happened and there were no door staff.

“If they weren’t around and it all kicked-off, things could get very serious,” he warned. “The police will know who is about and they’d have been told if someone had just been released from custody and likely to cause trouble – Wetherspoons won’t have that information.”

Cllr Andy Govier said the Iron Duke was the only pub in town to have door staff and he was “quite relaxed” about the application. “But I’d support the view that if police want door staff working, then they should be,” he said.

Cllr Lithgow said the only reason why door staff were employed was because the Iron Duke was the largest pub in town and smaller pubs “policed themselves.”

Cllr Thorne said that he was not being critical of the pub staff because he had seen them at first-hand deal with any issues – if door security were not working.

Sgt Jon O’Connor, of Wellington Police, was asked about the situation at the full town council meeting held on May 6 and he said that if the application was approved he would still expect door staff to be working on busier occasions.

He said he would like to see them there all the time, but accepted it might now have to be on an evidence-based need. But added if there were any known occasions happening which would lead to “increased footfall” – such as the World Cup – then they “will have to have them.”