YORK was likened to the wild west today as police, council officials and licensees met to discuss weekend trouble in the city.

City of York Council, North Yorkshire Police and British Transport police invited landlords, club and bar owners and off-licence bosses to a meeting in the Knavesmire Stand at York Racecourse.

As revealed in The Press on Saturday, they had said in a letter that York was no longer seen as a family-friendly city on Saturdays, and said antisocial behaviour had become an issue.

Hen and stag parties and groups of visitors from elsewhere have been identified as a particular issue.

The Press was told our journalists would not be allowed into today's meeting, but several attendees have spoken about what was said. We have been told around 100 people were there.

We have been told:

  • One of the police officers said parts of the city were "like the wild-west" at times on Saturdays.
  • Large groups from South Yorkshire and the North East usually arrived by train between 10am and noon and the rowdiness peaked around 7pm, when "the city is under siege".
  • Although the authorities can respond to complaints about licenced premises breaching the law, there is no proactive enforcement of the law

The meeting was split into two sessions. The first asked attendees to say what they perceived to be the problems in the city on Saturdays, and the second asked them to come up with ideas for addressing the problems.

Suggestions included:

  • A ban on inflatables being carried into licensed premises
  • Pubs not opening so early in the day
  • More warning posters at the station
  • Enforcement action
  • Earlier last trains leaving York, to force troublesome groups to leave sooner
  • Increased rail fares on late trains, to try to encourage people to choose earlier departures
  • Hard-hitting warnings on social media

North Yorkshire Police's Insp Andy Godfrey said the meeting had been positive with a lot of engagement from the licensees.

He added: "This is an issue around a perceived atmosphere of large groups being unsocial, not about a large increase in crime.

"It's something that it is essential to address, and the police cannot do that alone."

He distanced himself from the "Wild West" comments, saying that exagerated the problems.

Insp Godfrey added: "I don't remember those comments, but I think they refer to the station which at times gets very busy. It's very much an over-exageration of the issue."

A plan of action is being drawn up, he added, including a "code of conduct" to make it clear what is not acceptable behaviour in the city.

More meetings are planned both through the "Pub Watch" scheme and between the police and other agencies involved.

Shaun Collinge, landlord of The Maltings in Tanner’s Moat, was among those at the meeting. He said: “Nobody wants people to stop coming to York but the message was they want people to come and behave in a civilised way. Nobody wants to lose revenue but we need to manage it better.”

He said many of the issues were problems with society as a whole, not just York – such as people drinking to excess at home or on the train before going to bars.

Another licensee, who declined to be named, said: “The licensing office and police have no facility for enforcing anything. That was the sum of it. They have no enforcement team or budget. If a member of the public calls to say there is a problem, they can reactively respond, but they can’t do it proactively.”

The licensee said a “code of conduct” was suggested, but said it would essentially just reiterate licence-holders’ existing legal obligations.

The council was unable to comment after today's meeting but speaking in advance, Steve Waddington, the authority's assistant director of community safety, said York remained one of the UK's safest cities.

He said alcohol-related crime in the alcohol restriction zone had fallen 21 per cent in two years and added: "We continue to listen to and act on businesses’ and residents’ concerns about a minority of city centre users and, in line with ongoing work with partner agencies including North Yorkshire Police, British Transport Police, train operators and Make It York, we’re continuing our work with the licensed trade to collectively address how people can enjoy the city responsibly and within the law.” 

In a poll on this website on Saturday, 80 per cent of 600 respondents said they were reluctant to visit York city-centre on Saturdays.