Otley Run: Bar crawl venues could have to pay for policing
A bar on the route of one of the country's biggest pub crawls has pushed back against a suggestion that venues should pay a levy for extra policing.The Otley Run sees about 4,000 people take part in the three-mile crawl between Headingley and Leeds city centre every Saturday.Residents have complained about anti-social behaviour, including violence and public urination, and politicians have now called for a voluntary payment from participating pubs and bars to fund police officers."We're getting slammed at every angle [financially] and I don't think we should be the ones expected to foot the bill," Andy Waugh, co-founder of Sixes Social Cricket, said.
The pub crawl is not officially classed as an organised event, with drinkers walking between the 19 stops that are under separate management.Deputy leader of Leeds City Council, Jonathan Pryor, called the format a "loophole" and said the authority would be "looking to put pressure on the venues" to improve safety at a public meeting earlier this month.Two women were injured in a crossbow attack on the route in April, with a meeting being held to discuss the concerns of people living nearby.
Mr Waugh added: "I understand there's a lot of people that come to do the Otley Run on a Saturday and that the services must be stretched, as empathetic as I am with that, we are also stretched as a hospitality business."Month after month, there seems to be more cost layered into our business. Whether it's National Insurance contributions increasing, minimum wage increases. I just don't know how they can justify a levy on an already struggling industry."On Saturdays, Otley Road is busy with thousands of people taking part in the crawl, many of them donning fancy dress costumes.
Alfie Heale, who was dressed as a tiger, said it was "absolutely quality, best day out in Leeds"."It brings a lot of people to Leeds."Charlie Mack, a student in the city, said: "It's always good fun. The pubs are making lots of money, it's only one day a week so you can't really complain."Iona Taylor, who was with her friends in a beer garden of a pub, was celebrating her birthday weekend by doing the run."It's hilarious, I would recommend it to everyone. The camaraderie is amazing. It gets hectic. We've got here early to avoid the crowds but it's usually pretty full."
In 2014, the city of Nottingham introduced a night-time levy for licensed premises, which covered policing.It was revoked in 2022 to ease financial pressure on local businesses.Alex Sobel, MP for Leeds Central and Headingley, said he supported the concept."What would be best is if the pubs themselves voluntarily started to pay into a fund, to show willing."We know how much money, more or less, they make on a Saturday, it would be a very small amount of profit to contribute towards the policing of the event."
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