A business providing beer bike tours in Cardiff has received approval to keep its alcohol in Bath — something officers have described as a situation resembling a Trojan Horse.
Beer bikes consist of a sizeable vehicle moved by passengers seated along the sides who pedal. Beer Travel Ltd operates hour-long drinking excursions in Bristol and Cardiff using these vehicles. The activity appeals to stag and hen parties — though police have expressed reservations about them.
South Wales Police licensing officer PC John Crowther addressed a licensing hearing on Thursday (March 26), stating that granting this premises licence would significantly impact Cardiff’s streets. However, the hearing was not taking place in Cardiff — but more than 50 miles away across the border in Bath.
Beer Travel Ltd sought an alcohol licence from Bath and North East Somerset Council despite the bikes not operating in Bath and having no intention to do so. Since alcohol cannot be sold directly on the bikes, it must be purchased in advance during the booking process.
Beer Travel Ltd intends to use a storage container in Bath for alcohol, which will be transported to Bristol or Cardiff after purchase for consumption on the bikes. The bikes do not require a licence, but the storage container does. From a legal standpoint, this is no different to purchasing alcohol from an online retailer and having it delivered.
Police in Bristol lodged an objection to the application, warning that the entire submission felt like a deliberate attempt to circumvent regulations. They noted it seeks to store alcohol in an out of the way, rather innocuous location while the overall business plan is to operate in Bristol and Cardiff.
PC Crowther travelled from Cardiff to Bath to attend the licensing committee meeting considering the application. He noted that the fact that Beer Travel Ltd had applied for a licence two counties and 56 miles from where the bikes were operating in Cardiff appeared to be a deliberate attempt to subvert the licensing act.
However, solicitor Chris Grunert, representing Beer Travel Ltd, stated that the application was in no way an attempt to deceive and that there were economic reasons for storing the alcohol in Bath.
He noted that the beer bikes could operate on a bring your own beer basis with no licence at all, but that the company wanted to obtain a licence and operate within a regulated environment. He added that they were doing exactly what they should be doing.
Before the meeting, police and the applicant agreed on 31 conditions which Beer Travel Ltd said it would accept as part of the licence, regulating conduct on board the bikes as well as around the container. PC Crowther ultimately stated that he would prefer the beer bikes to operate with a licence subject to conditions than to continue to be unregulated.
Chair of the licensing committee, Steve Hedges (Combe Down, Liberal Democrat) had to repeatedly remind the meeting that the council was only able to consider issues about the licensing of the storage container and that it had no power over the beer bikes in Bristol and Cardiff.
PC Crowther raised concerns about all you can drink being used as a slogan on the websites, advertising videos which he said showed beer being drunk through traffic cones, public nuisance, traffic tailbacks, and the possibility of public urination. He noted that the drinking of the alcohol is not a licensable activity but it is most definitely where the risk lies.
He added that Beer Travel Ltd had never contacted South Wales Police licensing officers or Cardiff City Council’s licensing department despite operating in Cardiff. The police in Cardiff had only become aware that the beer bikes were operating in the city in February, when a colleague spotted one.
PC Crowther noted that the advertised pick up point for the beer bikes was 8 Fitzroy Street, a student let on a residential street in the Cathays area of the city. He noted that he had spoken to the students who lived there and they were unaware it was the designated pick up point, as were the letting agents and the building’s owner.
Mr Grunert noted that hiring a beer bike was more of a sober affair than depicted in the adverts and that public urination would not be tolerated. He added that they take very seriously the care of their customers when they are on the bikes with them.
He added that Beer Travel Ltd had run over 400 trips in Bristol and Cardiff and noted that this had been going on for a couple of years and they never had an issue with it.
The licensing committee agreed to grant the licence. The storage container, which will only be accessed by Beer Travel Ltd staff, is located in the Twerton area of the city near Bath City F.C.’s home at Twerton Park.