A NORTH Craven pub is wanting to pull out of an initiative to stamp out trouble, because it claims it could damage trade.

Tricia and Michael Johnson, who run the Golden Lion Hotel at Horton-in-Ribblesdale, have spent almost £400 on an application to have its registration with the STAND (Stop Trouble and Night Time Disorder) group removed.

In March last year, the couple applied to Craven District Council's licensing department for a variation in hours.

At the time, they had to agree to remain a member of the STAND pub watch scheme as part of a condition of the licence.

The relevant box was "ticked" - but it is this element they are now seeking to remove.

Mrs Johnson told the Herald: "We are not against the principle of STAND, but against the way it is being run. The people in charge seem to be making the rules up as they go along.

"We were in support of it to start with and Michael was one of the first people who said we should get together, but now it's getting too big. We have someone who comes into our pub who is on STAND, but is appealing against it. He's involved with the local football team and if he loses his appeal, the rest of the team won't come in either. It would affect our business.

"We are facing a smoking ban at the weekend and this sort of thing puts a strain on pubs."

Mrs Johnson added that she had heard about incidents where people had been put on a STAND ban for reasons that "don't make sense".

"There was one incident in Settle when someone was involved in an incident in the street. They were put on STAND and they weren't even in a pub," she said.

Mrs Johnson says publicans should be allowed to choose whether to be part of the initiative or not.

Sergeant Kevin Wilson, who helped to administer STAND when the scheme was launched, said the police were objecting to the Golden Lion's application for a change to the conditions of its licence.

"We believe it is important that every licensed premises is a member of the pub watch scheme in order to help reduce violence and unacceptable behaviour in pubs," he said.

"The scheme has had an effect on reducing these instances because people don't want to be put on STAND.

"Not all pubs have conditions attached to their licences that they have to be STAND members, but all pubs in Craven have signed up to it.

"As far as I am aware, the Golden Lion at Horton is the first one to apply to be taken out of the scheme," said Sgt Wilson.

Currently, there are 96 people on STAND bans in Skipton.

Only the police (following an arrest) or licensees are able to refer people before the STAND committee, and it is the sub-committee which has the judicial power to ban members of the public for between six months and five years.

People on STAND can have their individual ban reviewed after a certain time and the sub-committee has the power to continue or revoke it.

There is a STAND committee in Settle, covering North Craven, and one in Skipton. However, people put on STAND are barred from all pubs involved in the scheme.

Representations for or against the Golden Lion's application have to be submitted by July 13 to the licensing authority.

A sub-committee will then call a special hearing which could be as early as the end of July.