Music can put you in the mood (From Warrington Guardian)

Music can put you in the mood

A CHESHIRE police chief has sent out a plea for pubs to play 'gentler' music before last orders to calm down punters prior to closing.

Assistant Chief Constable David Griffin has called for a curb on 'extremely loud music' that creates an 'aggressive' feel inside drinking establishments and leads to drunken violence.

In a written response to a Home Office consultation, he wrote: "Some licensees change and play gentler music more quietly towards the end of permitted hours, which has a calming effect."

Licensees in Northwich are supportive of the police's efforts to halt drink-related disorder and believe carefully selecting soothing sounds can go some way to help.

John Bates, owner of JW's Caf Bar on Castle Street, said: "I agree with the views of David Griffin and I think we should take the suggestion on board and consider it seriously.

"At JW's we have a resident DJ who plays on Friday and Saturday nights and we already have a policy of changing the mood of the music before closing.

"It's something that on the whole works well although obviously it isn't a magic formula that applies to everyone."

Vicki Pickstock, assistant manager at The Anderton, on Witton Street, said: "I think that if you slow the music down then people do tend to chill out and relax.

"We have a managed music system here that generates a play list according to the time of day or night, and it chooses more down tempo sounds as we approach closing time.

"I'm not sure though whether that on its own is enough to stop people getting out of control."

Other proposals under discussion include forcing drinkers to sit down and compelling pubs to sell soft drinks only within half an hour of closing.

They form part of the Violent Crime Reduction Bill, which will be considered by a committee of MPs in October.