A BAR where underage guests were allowed in, leading to a “serious violent assault” has been told to impose a strict ‘over 21s-only’ policy.

A review into the licence held by Paradox in Heswall, which describes itself as a ‘restobar’, heard a number of concerns from Merseyside Police – including that a door supervisor told a visiting police sergeant it was a “matter of opinion whether someone is 18 or not”.

At a meeting of Wirral Council’s licensing act sub-committee on Wednesday, a number of conditions were imposed, including to operate a strict over 21s-only policy on Friday and Saturday nights, no 18th birthday party events and a “zero-tolerance” drug policy.

The bar said it has taken a number of measures to resolve recent issues, including buying a new ID scanner, serving drinks in plastic cups and extra training for staff.

Licence holder James Demetrios, who was present at the meeting, said “most” of the conditions imposed by the committee had already been initiated “of our own volition”, and that they “don’t do 18th birthday parties” anyway.

He also said a new “head doorman” had been hired, and there are always three door staff working on the busiest nights of the week.

Last week, it was revealed Merseyside Police had called for a council review into the bar’s licence.

Council documents said the bar on Pensby Road had not taken “reasonable steps to ensure the safety of children”, and that it “exposed [them] to an unsafe environment”.

At Wednesday’s meeting, the press and public were excluded while discussion of the details of two “serious” incidents took place. That was because, police said, the “sensitive” information being made public would have been “detrimental to that ongoing investigation”.

The meeting then went back into a public session.

Geoff Lee, Merseyside Police’s licensing officer, said there had been “clear evidence” people under the age of 18 had been allowed to enter and consume alcohol on the premises on various occasions.

He listed a number of incidents, including one in December last year when a 16-year-old told police he had been allowed in to the venue without having any ID checked, and another in January, when swabs from the women’s toilets at the bar tested positive for cocaine.

Mr Lee also mentioned an incident in March, when a teenager later found to be 16, had been “aggressively swinging punches at people”, “continuously shouting at officers, telling them to f*** off”. He was initially arrested for being drunk and disorderly, before officers escorted him home.

Mr Lee said that same month, on a police check of the venue, a door supervisor had told him it was a “matter of opinion whether someone is 18 or not”.

Mr Lee said the visiting police sergeant was “shocked” at the statement, adding: “This is the person supposed to checking IDs. The licence holder was advised he needs to speak to his staff to advise for more robust ID checking.”

The police licensing officer then recommended the list of conditions be attached to the licence, that also included the IDs of all customers entering after 9pm on weekend evenings are scanned by an electronic system, and that all serious incidents are reported to police.

Mr Lee said: “We have serious concerns with the general management of the premises with regards to public safety and protecting children from harm and public disorder. I have had in depth discussions with licensing officers, and this is the action we want to take to make the premises a safer venue.”

Licence holder Mr Demetrios said the venue had already introduced many of the conditions laid out by police, but objected to the suggested over-21s policy.

He said: “I think it’s unreasonable that only 21s and over should be allowed in. If you are 18 or over, you are of legal drinking age. It’s unreasonable to be limited. If someone is a legal age, they should be allowed to come to Paradox and drink as a responsible citizen.

“I feel it would be unfair and commercially restrictive as everyone else in the area can serve 18 year olds, but we can’t.”

He told the meeting: “We are sincere about running this premises correctly within licensing criteria. As the licence holder, I am happy we have gone down this road and fulfilled the criteria of the licence.

“The boys [his two sons part-manage the venue] realise what their responsibilities are, and they are mature and capable adults to do the job.

“We have addressed the main problem, which is underage drinking.

“It’s a family-run business. I have been in the hospitality business for 45 years. We have all sat around the kitchen table and come up with a portfolio showing that the team here are competent people to run Paradox.

“I appreciate their young age, but the boys have learnt how to cut their teeth in the last two years. They know there have been problems, but we have rectified them.”

He also said part of the problem had been an increase in “youths from Birkenhead” attending the venue over the last few months.

The new licensing conditions handed out on Wednesday also included that the Designated Premises Supervisor, Harry Demetrios, must complete a relevant training course by the end of June this year.

Paradox’s licence allows it open until 1.30am between Sundays and Thursdays, and 2.30am on Fridays and Saturdays.

Speaking afterwards, a spokesman for the bar said they took positives from the meeting, and that they would offer a special deal to customers this weekend in light of the decision.

He said: “We are happy with the decision reached today for Paradox to continue to operate as normal.

“The decision to now make Paradox a 21+ venue on Fridays and Saturdays will give us the opportunity to explore a different market and will give the venue a whole new feel on the weekends.

“We are happy to say we will still be operating with a 2am license on Fridays and Saturdays.

“Our customers’ dining experience will also still remain unchanged. Families are welcome to dine with us and we have an exciting new a la carte menu which we are launching at the end of the month.

“Furthermore our function suite will remain intact, we will no longer allow 18th Birthday Parties, but every other celebration will still be welcomed with no room hire fee required to book our private party venue.”

He added that to “celebrate the success” of the licensing meeting, the bar is offering customers to try the new frozen cocktail range for free this weekend.

He added: “To conclude, we will continue to co-operate with Merseyside Police and the licensing department to maintain our standards of service and ensure our ID Scanner software is used to its full potential.”