Burnley – pub licence review

AN East Lancashire village pub has kept its licence after a review sparked by the death of a teenager to whom it sold alcohol before he died in a quad bike accident.

On March 30, 16-year-old Hector Eccles died after crashing his farm vehicle in Worsthorne, while a17-year-old passenger, was injured.
Both had previously been drinking under-age in the Ram Inn in Burnley Road, Cliviger, and the Roggerham Gate in Todmorden Road, near Briercliffe.

Following investigations into the fatal accident Lancashire Police instigated a review into the alcohol licences of both pubs.
A hearing by Burnley Council’s licensing sub-committee on Tuesday agreed to renew the premises licence of The Ram Inn after hearing that it had replaced the Designated Premises Supervisor (DPS) responsible for the management of the pub when the alcohol has been sold to Mr Eccles.
A similar review of the licence for the Roggerham Gate will be held by the committee on Thursday.

Tuesday’s hearing also imposed a series of conditions on the Ram Inn to prevent any future under-age sales.
Sub-committee chair Cllr Anne Kelly said:

“I have chaired a number of these hearings.
“This was the toughest one I have ever done.
“I have never chaired a review with such tragic consequences.
“We made it clear if the owner had not sacked and replaced the DPS immediately we would not have renewed the premises licence.
“We take under age drinking seriously and hope this sends a message of pub owners, landlords and landladies this will not be tolerated.”

Mr Eccles, described at his inquest as ‘a well-known and well-loved member of the farming community’, was driving a Polaris Ranger Farmbike in Extwistle Road at around 12.40am when it was involved in a one-vehicle crash, ending up in a field.

Documents for Tuesday’s hearing said: “It is the view of Lancashire Constabulary that the licensing objectives relating to the Protection of Children from Harm and Public Safety are not being observed at the venue.

“Lancashire Constabulary say that on March 30 2024, they attended a report of a road traffic collision involving a farm quad type vehicle. Unfortunately, a 16-year child involved in the collision was fatally injured.

“As a result of the police investigation, it was established that the deceased child and two other males under the age of 18 had been sold alcohol at the premises in the preceding hours.

“Further visits at the premises raised concerns regarding the effectiveness of age related checks, documentation relating to any such checks and refusals and the failure to be able to identify staff members responsible for underage sales.”

The conditions imposed on The Ram Inn licence include the maintenance of a comprehensive CCTV system which retains images for 31 days, the installation of and electronic till system identifying each alcohol sale and the staff member responsible, anthe operation of a Challenge 25 system where any customer seeking to buy alcohol who looks under 25 must produce valid proof of age.