Arrests In Licensing Crackdown

9 December 2012, 12:08 | Updated: 9 December 2012, 12:16

Around 300 people have been arrested during a crackdown on licensing in London.

Metropolitan Police officers have spent the last two days checking approximately 6,000 licensed premises, including pubs, clubs and off licences.

The operation has resulted in 297 arrests and 61 vehicles being seized.

Substantial amounts of alcohol and tobacco were also confiscated.

Nearly 4,000 officers took part in the investigation.

A toal of 1,046 offences were reported between 8am Friday morning and 8am Sunday morning.

A total of 22 venues, including pubs, saunas and massage parlours were shut down.

One of the largest individual operations involved 175 officers, including the Territorial Support Group, the Met Police's helicopter and dog units, who raided the 93 Feet East club in Brick Lane after reports of dealers selling class A drugs.

Police arrested nine people for offences, including possession of drugs with intent to supply, and the club was closed.

Officers also targetted taxi touts and illegal minicabs, and seized 200 stolen mobile phones.

Met Police commander Mak Chishty, who led the operation, said: "Yet again we have seen Operation Condor bring in excellent results from our concerted efforts involving thousands of officers being deployed all over London over the past two days.

Licensing impacts upon everyday community life - in our shops and supermarkets this means people do not sell knives, harmful substances or alcohol to young people; in our pubs and clubs it means that alcohol is sold and consumed in a responsible way, on our roads it means that vehicles, such as taxis are properly licensed and safe.

These are just some examples of how licensing affects all of our daily activities, and we will continue to commit resources to this and work extremely hard with our partners to tackle these areas in the future."