Venue keeps licence after dog show concerns

An events venue has kept its licence, with some amended terms, after police raised concerns that included its handling of a dog show featuring XL bullies.

The Hangar, in Wolverhampton, was due to have a licence review hearing last week but it reached an agreement with the city council in the days beforehand.

A spokesperson for The Hangar said the outcome showed that it was "a responsible venue" and the proposed review was "unjustified".

Wolverhampton City Council said the venue's licence now had some "revised" conditions that related primarily to giving advance notice about events and the use of CCTV.

West Midlands Police had raised concerns that there were unmuzzled XL bullies at a dog show, called Best of Bullies, at the venue last summer.

The force had also raised concerns about a music event last December, saying it had not received some information that it requested in advance, the Local Democracy Reporting Service reported last week.

XL bullies were added to the list of banned dogs in England and Wales last year, following a number of attacks.

People can now only legally own an XL bully if they have an exemption certificate, and the dogs must be kept on a lead and muzzled in public.

Nathan Thaker, The Hangar's designated premises supervisor and spokesperson, said the venue had "no record" of unmuzzled XL bullies being present at its event and it did not know of any specific complaint made to the police about this issue.

Mr Thaker added that dog show did not "come under licensable activity" and he was surprised that this event was included in a call to review the venue's licence.

West Midlands Police have been approached for comment and have been asked if a final conclusion was reached over their concerns about unmuzzled dogs at the venue.

Wolverhampton City Council said its licensing sub-committee was only required to look into "what action was needed on the [venue's] licence", rather than making findings about the event.

It added that its agreement with The Hangar "took into account matters raised following a dog show last summer and a music event in December", and that the police were consulted on the licence revisions.

The Hangar, a former steel manufacturing warehouse on Pearson Street, has been used for events such as boxing matches and family-friendly daytime raves in recent months, according to its Facebook page.

The council said it had a reached an agreement, called a Consent Order, with the venue on 4 March and it was approved by a district judge the following day.

A brief hearing was held by the council's regulatory sub-committee on 6 March, where it was decided that no further action was needed.

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