A LICENSING expert has accused the police of using 'poetic licence' in reports which were used as evidence during a review to try to shut down two bars in the town centre.

Licensing consultant Paul Douglas has criticised the police after a number of discrepancies were flagged up between the application for the review of Voodoo and Shenanigans and the police logs containing the events of what happened.

Mr Douglas said: "What they were saying in the reviews is, at best, a mistake or, at worst, blatantly untrue."

But a spokesman for Cheshire Police said the evidence in which these premises were submitted for review was 'sound and found to be fully justified'.

The spokesman added that a number of different perspectives were presented during the reviews.

"It is our view that this does not mean the police evidence was conflicting, but rather that a number of different views were expressed during the course of the proceedings."

These comments are based on two reviews into the running of Shenanigans on Bridge Street and Voodoo on Academy Street last month.

Both drinking establishment have been given permission to stay open by the licensing committee as long as bosses adhere to the new conditions set out under the licence.

Mr Douglas, formerly a Merseyside police officer, said the bars were both happy to abide by the conditions and welcomed the result of the reviews.

But he added that many bars have been put in a difficult position by the police.

He said: "They were very critical of them saying the bars didn’t call the police.

“But this is one of the big arguments in Warrington.

"If you don’t call the police you are in trouble if you do call the police you are in trouble. That’s the issue we have on Bridge Street."

He added: "Don’t get me wrong I’m not saying that Shenanigans was 100 per cent squeaky clean.

"There have been incidents but the incidents that there have been are just like you would get in any other bar in any town and in the centre."

Mr Douglas added that this was all part of a wider plan to close Bridge Street by 3am and disputed police claims that the spate of recent bar reviews were a 'coincident'.

Cheshire Police also confirmed that it is in the process of appealing the Shenanigans decision at the magistrates court and is currently considering its position regarding Voodoo.