A NOTORIOUS Glasgow pub has been shut with immediate effect after a tip-off about sectarian music led police officers to uncover an after-hours party.
Binghams, a popular haunt with supporters of Ulster Loyalists, was also found to be operating with staff who did not comply with the legal requirements for people running a business selling alcohol, while on a further visit police found drunken drinkers asleep in the bar during daytime hours.
Strathclyde Police asked the city's licensing chiefs to review the licence for the bar – named after an infamous Loyalist terrorist shot dead in Belfast during the 1980s – after a string of incidents, claiming it should be closed to "prevent crime and disorder".
The licensing board heard how the bar's owner, Northern Ireland-based William Bissett, admitted knowing little about Scottish liquor laws and had employed several members of staff, none of whom complied with the legal requirements.
Police also claimed there was a DJ who continued to play music, which was not sectarian, after the officers' arrival, with the manageress claiming he was playing "out of the goodness of his heart".
Revoking the licence with immediate effect, the board's chairman, Stephen Dornan, said: "Anyone, regardless of who they are, should feel safe any time they walk into any licensed premises."
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