CCTV bid to clamp down on drug use in Alnwick

Mar 13 2009 by Dave Black, The Journal

CCTV cameras are being installed in pub toilets in a Northumberland market town because of the scourge of drug taking.

Drug users and troublemakers are being warned they will soon have nowhere to hide as the pub’s camera surveillance system is extended to cover the customer toilets.

Cameras are being installed inside both the ladies’ and gents’ toilets at the Penny Black pub in Fenkle Street, Alnwick, as part of the management’s zero tolerance policy on drugs and violence.

The cameras will record who is in the toilets at any given time, but the pictures will not embarrass customers by showing them actually using the urinals or the inside of the cubicles.

Under the terms of their installation, images cannot be watched ‘live’ and the recordings can only be viewed by designated members of staff or the police, following reports of incidents in the toilets. It is the most radical measure in an upgrade of the pub’s CCTV system from nine cameras to 16, which follows recent incidents of drug misuse and disorder on the premises. Signs will be put up outside the toilets telling customers CCTV is in operation.

The Penny Black, which is housed in Alnwick’s old Post Office building, opened in August last year following extensive renovations carried out by businessman and retired police officer John Hope.

Manager Jannick Genouw admitted it was rare for CCTV cameras to be installed in pub toilets, and said he had taken advice to ensure the move complied with the law. “The pub is doing great and the existing CCTV system has done well in helping us look back at incidents. The main issue we have at present is keeping the riff-raff out and the extra cameras will provide us with more evidence of any problems.

“The cameras we are installing in the toilets won’t show people actually using the toilets. They will only record who is going in and out.

“This follows three incidents where we have searched people and found drugs. I believe people who don’t have anything to hide will have no problems with the cameras.”