´óÏó´«Ã½

A pub where children were found lying drunk and unconscious nearby has been accused by police of "playing clever games" to get its licence back early.

Sonny's Bar and Bentley's nightclub in Towyn, Conwy, had its licence suspended and it was due to return on 3 April.

But it applied for a temporary notice allowing it to open between 27 March and 2 April, effectively ending the ban early before the busy Easter weekend.

But the company told councillors it has made changes to the running of the pub.

Sonny's had its licence suspended for three months in December after it was accused of holding a drink and drug-fuelled under-age disco on 22 September 2023.

It had children as young as 13 drunk and unconscious on the pavement outside after an under-18s party, according to a council report.

The pub agreed to have its licence suspended after a 21-day appeal period, meaning that it would run until the end of 2 April.

EJP Entertainment, which runs the pub, then applied for a temporary event notice, allowing it to open and sell alcohol between 27 March and 2 April.

But North Wales Police objected during a Conwy licensing sub-committee.

The force's licensing officer Aaron Haggas said the pub was attempting to "play clever games" and circumnavigate the ban.

"There is nothing to indicate that this is a separate application, other than an opportunity to try to circumnavigate the suspended licence through nothing more than what can be called kidology," he said.

"It does bring into question the trust and confidence of the applicant and may well also call into question the action taken by the licensing authority."

He added: "We will be very disappointed should this application be approved."

But Joe Harvey, representing EJP Entertainment, said the pub had put in a range of measures to improve the pub's running, including security and licensing courses for staff above and beyond requirements, to ensure employees were well trained.

"We would say there has been a lot of effort on our part to try and repair things, and it is disappointing to hear that this is perhaps felt by North Wales Police that that isn't going as well as what we thought it was going because we want to put things right," he said.

The licensing committee has until next week to consider the application.