Cops called to Oceana 346 times in six months

5:44pm Thursday 7th August 2008

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Police were called to Kingston's largest nightclub almost twice a night in the last six months according to new figures.

Oceana received 346 visits from the boys in blue between October 2007 and April this year according to statistics revealed after a Freedom of Information request by the Surrey Comet.

"I am disappointed to hear it is as high as 346 for Oceana but then again the turnover and volume and catchment area is huge."

Councillor Rachel Reid

Kingston police were called out to deal with incidents at licensed premised in and around the town centre a total of 680 times - around five call outs a day.

Town centre councillor Rachel Reid said she was surprised at the amount of calls but said they could reflect a greater willingness among landlords and managers to act swiftly to stop problems.

She said: "I am disappointed to hear it is as high as 346 for Oceana but then again the turnover and volume and catchment area is huge.

"Pubs are obviously taking responsibility and making sure things are being dealt with but sometimes we think could there have been something in place to prevent these things in the first place.

"My personal opinion as someone who is still quite young is I love the town centre but I do think a lot of people have a fear factor."

Kingston police said it could not say how many individual crimes, violent or otherwise, were reported at each licensed as it would take too much time and cost too much money to gather the information from its records.

It said that some of the calls linked to a venue might simply have been called in as an incident opposite a pub or club, adding: ”We also would stress that high figures do not necessarily indicate a greater problem within each location, but may reflect a more proactive and vigilant approach to apprehension and detection by landlords.”

The Works nightclub which is currently closed awaiting a relaunch, was subject to police visits 164 times, while the next most visited spot, the Kings Tun pub, known for being a popular pre-Oceana watering hole, saw 22 responses.

The next most visited pub was student's haunt Knights Park Bar in Grange Road with 21 call outs while riverside venue McCluskey’s was linked to 17 police call-outs.

Even chip and kebab shops had cause to call for help from the Met, adding to the total workload with officers called to Eden Kebab and Chico Land five times.

The most peaceful drinking dens were Students Union owned Bar Zen in Penryn Road, Waters Edge in Rams Passage, since closed and replaced with Woody’s, the Druids Head in Market Place, The Ram in High Street, The Litten Tree in Castle Street, The Slug and Lettuce in Turks Boatyard, Thameside, the Wheelwright Arms in Clarence Street and The Marlborough in Fairfield South which has been closed down and boarded up for months.

All of the venues appeared to have an unblemished record in needing to call police.

Daniel Lainchbury the assistant manager of the Druids Head said: “It is fantastic. Last year we were given pub of the year award and that is to do with security.

“We don’t have club music, we don’t have a dance floor and we don’t have a pool table. It is more of a pub than a club.”

The Angel in Howard Road, Surbiton was also not visited by the police.

Nobody from McCluskey’s, Oceana, the Works or the Kings Tun was available for comment on the figures when contacted.

The figures

ADDRESS	CALLS
Albion Tavern, Fairfield Road	1
Bacchus Late Bar and Venue, Church Street	4
Bar Eivissa, High Street	3
Bar Zen, Penryn Road	0
Barcadia Clarence Street	5
Subway Clarence Street	7
Eden Kebab Eden Street	4
Chico Land St James Rd	1
Waters Edge, Rams Passage	0
Wheelwright Arms, Clarence Street	2
O'Neill's, Eden Street	15
Kelly Arms, Glenthorne Road	1
Druids Head, Market Place	0
Fighting Cocks, London Road	5
Ha Ha Bar and Canteen, Jerome Place, Charter Quay	3
Hermes Hotel Hermes Hotel, Portsmouth Road	3
Kings Tun, Clarence Street	22
Kingston Mill, High Street	10
Kingston Tup, London Road	6
Knights Park Bar, Grange Road	21
McClusky's, Bishops Palace House, Bishops Hall	17
Oceana, Clarence Street	346
Ram, High Street	0
Slug and Lettuce, Charter Quay, High Street	18
TGI Friday's, Wood Street	11
The Angel, Howard Road, Surbiton	0
The Bishop out of Residence, Bishop's Hall, Thames Street	8
The Cricketers, Fairfield South	3
The Litten Tree, Castle Street	0
The Marlborough, Fairfield South	0
The Slug and Lettuce Turks Boatyard, Thameside	0
The Works Nightclub, St James Road	164
Wheelwright Arms, Clarence Street	0