THE OWNERS of a rowdy pub which lost its licence due to punters' drug use have lost a legal fight to allow it to re-open for business.

 

Lawyers acting for Trust Inns Ltd went to the Court of Session in Edinburgh to ask judges there to allow The Scotch boozer in Summerston in Glasgow to start trading again.

The bar was closed in June 2013 after police in the area notified the city council's licensing board about drug use there.

However, lawyers told judges Lord Carloway, Lady Dorrian and Lord Drummond Young that the licensing board acted illegally.

They said that the licensing board failed to disclose to the proprietors of the Scotch details of a report which contained evidence that illegal acts were being committed there.

However, in a written judgment issued by the Court yesterday, Lord Carloway ruled that the licensing board hadn't acted illegally.

The judge ruled that the report - which had been written by a Licensing Standards Officer - only contained uncontroversial information about what police had discovered about the bar.

He wrote: "Accordingly the appellants contentions concerning disclosure and any failure to take proper or explicit account of the report's terms are rejected.

"The appeal is accordingly refused."

Glasgow Licensing Board revoked the pub's licence in 2013 with immediate effect after receiving formal police request to terminate its right to trade.

Officers contacted the board after making scores of visits to the pub over an 18 month period.

following scores of visits to the pub over the last 18 months.

Police said there were five incidents of public disorder and five occasions where staff had not co-operated with detectives who were investigating crime in the area.

A police report to the board stated: "It is the Chief Constable's position that the premises is operating in a manner likely to cause serious harm to the public by allowing the continued use of controlled drugs within the premises.

"The management of the premises have been spoken to over a considerable period of time and made fully aware of ongoing issues in respect of drug misuse within their premises. The premises have taken little by way of steps to resolve the issue.

"There have been a considerable number of incidents relating to disorder linked to the premises where the staff members have been unwilling to fully assist police inquiries."

Inspector Duncan Evans also said that the Scotch's problem with drugs "represents the biggest problem to the area and to the community".

Last year lawyers argued at the Court of Session that the licensing board's decision was illegal.

But Lord Carloway ruled that the board acted correctly.