Pub where drunk children were hospitalised after disco refused permission to reopen for Easter

Richard Evans, local democracy reporter

A pub whose licence was suspended after children were found lying unconscious on the pavement following an under 18s party, won’t be able to open for the Easter weekend.

Sunny’s Bar on Towyn Road (also known as Sonny’s) was handed a three-month ban at Christmas by Conwy County Council’s licensing committee in the wake of a disco in September last year in which police suspected children had taken “cocaine and ketamine”.

In the aftermath of the event, several children required treatment after drinking too much and two were treated in hospital.

The suspension is due to end at 23:59 on 2 April but EJP Entertainment, who run Sunny’s Bar, applied for a temporary event notice, which would have allowed the pub to open between 27 March and 2 April over the busy bank holiday Easter weekend.

Refused

The licensing committee had five days to make their decision after a hearing last week and have refused the application.

A Conwy County Council spokesperson confirmed this in a statement: “The application for a Temporary Events Notice at Sunny’s Bar, Towyn, has been rejected.” Last week North Wales Police licensing officer Aaron Haggas slammed EJP for applying to end the ban early. He said the pub was attempting to “play clever games” to circumnavigate the ban.

Mr Haggas said the pub was attempting to ‘play clever games’ and circumnavigate the ban.

“There is nothing to indicate that this is a separate application, other than an opportunity to try to circumnavigate the suspended licence through nothing more than what can be called kidology,” he said.

“It does bring into question the trust and confidence of the applicant and may well also call into question the action taken by the licensing authority.”

He added: “We will be very disappointed should this application be approved.”

Measures

Representing EJP Entertainment, solicitor Joe Harvey said the pub had put in a range of measures to improve the pub’s running, including security and licensing courses for staff.

“We would say there has been a lot of effort on our part to try and repair things, and it is disappointing to hear that this is perhaps felt by North Wales Police that that isn’t going as well as what we thought it was going because we want to put things right,” he said.