Be nightsafe in Cheltenham

Tier 2 COVID 19 restrictions are in place and must be followed.

Cheltenham has held a Purple Flag award since 2016 for its commitment to raising and keeping high standards in the night time economy. Now, during the pandemic, to help keep people safe - and so that they feel safe when they visit the town centre in the evenings - licensed venues and restaurants have worked even more closely with partners, including the police and Cheltenham Business Improvement District (BID), to ensure that all safety measures and requirements are met.

Councillor David Willingham (LD), Chair of Cheltenham’s Licensing Committee said “The COVID 19 pandemic has brought many new challenges to businesses this year, not least those operating within the hospitality industry in Cheltenham.

“Public safety in our town’s award-winning night-time economy is vitally important to the council and our partners, and we work together to achieve that.

“We want all our visitors to have a great evening out and those respecting COVID-19 restrictions are very welcome and encouraged to visit. However any anti-social or violent conduct will not be tolerated and those who engage in this sort of behaviour can expect to be excluded from all Nightsafe venues if identified.”

Coordinator of Cheltenham Nightsafe, Colin Pilsworth, continued: “We’re looking forward to welcoming more people back to our town centre in the evenings following lockdown. On the whole, the majority do respect the rules and enjoy their evening out, and that’s what we want to see.

“However we would like to remind everyone that Nightsafe has a zero tolerance policy in respect of violence, threats of violence or verbal abuse use towards customers or staff, and we will not hesitate to ban any persons found to be behaving in such a manner.”

The town was awarded Purple Flag status in 2016 and this has been maintained each year since.  Purple Flag is a national award scheme, which aims to recognise and highlight towns and cities that are committed to raising standards and broadening their appeal, specifically between the hours of 5pm and 5am.

For information on planning your visit to Cheltenham, including where to eat out and tier 2 restrictions, please see: www.visitcheltenham.com/your-visit.

For media enquiries, contact: communications, telephone 01242 264154, email [email protected]

Notes:

The development and success of Cheltenham’s night-life – and Purple Flag status - is the result of a successful and close partnership between the police, Cheltenham Borough Council, Cheltenham BID, the University Of Gloucestershire, voluntary groups such as the Street Pastors and Cheltenham Guardians and the licensed trade, through the Cheltenham Nightsafe scheme.

Nightsafe is the representative body for the licensed trade in Cheltenham and in common with pubwatch schemes across the UK operates an exclusion scheme. Under the scheme, persons who have been found to have committed acts of disorder or violence or engaged in criminal or anti-social behaviour such as drug dealing, in or within the vicinity of licensed premises in the town can be excluded from all Nightsafe member premises for a fixed period, up to five years in the most serious cases. 14 people are currently excluded from Nightsafe venues in Cheltenham. For more information visit: https://cheltenham-safe.org/night-safe/