Clubs risk closure over bouncer rules

Hundreds of pubs and clubs in London risk closure because their bouncers have failed to register for a new licensing system.

Only one in five London door staff have signed up for the licence, which is needed to continue working in the industry after 11 April, when the rules come into force.

Police can close clubs or pubs employing illegal bouncers.

The Security Industry Authority (SIA), which issues licences, revealed today that only 20 per cent of eligible staff had met the application deadline.

Thousands of bouncers are believed to have fallen foul of a ban on those with criminal convictions. Licences cannot be issued to anyone convicted of a minor offence in the past two years or a serious offence in the past five years.

Poppy Walter, of the SIA, said only 4,400 people had requested a licence application form. "Not enough people have completed and returned the form. We only have one in five of the total that we need to man the doors in London," she said. "My concern is that pubs and clubs will be operating outside the law and security companies who supply doormen will be flouting the law."

Owners of companies which employ illegal door staff face up to five years in jail under the new laws.

John Corbett, general secretary of Feds, the union representing doormen, said the criminality clause was too strict. "One of our members has lost his job simply because he has a caution. You can now become a policeman with a minor conviction but you cannot become a doorman. It is absurd," he said.

There are about 90,000 bouncers in the UK and fewer than 10,000 in London, although some come in from the regions.