A bid by a Tenby publican to renew his public entertainment licence (PEL) was adjourned by Pembrokeshire County Council's licensing committee this week.

Mr. Keith May, of the Three Mariners public house in St. George Street, is seeking to renew his existing PEL, which operates from 11 am to 1 am Monday to Saturday and 11 am to 12.30 am on Sundays.

Although the Mid and West Wales Fire Authority and the county council's own commercial pollution team had no objections, and Tenby Town Council had no observations to make in a report to Tuesday's licensing committee meeting, the county council's licensing team questioned whether Mr. May was a 'fit and proper person' to hold a PEL.

They pointed out that legal proceedings were undertaken against Mr. May in 2001 for breaches in his PEL relating to a partially obstructed fire exit and the fact that no registered doorpersons were present.

At the time, Mr. May was found guilty and given a conditional discharge, but licensing officers alleged that Mr. May was still failing to meet the conditions of his PEL regarding the number of registered doorpersons present during its operation.

A letter from Dyfed-Powys Police licensing officer, Mr. Tony Davies, expressed similar concerns and asked for Mr. May to be present to explain the situation to the committee.

Although Mr. May was indeed present, the county council's head of services, Mr. Alan Bennett, read out a letter from the Tenby publican's legal representative, Mr. Paul Cowper, of Lowless and Lowless.

Mr. Cowper pointed out that he had acted for Mr. May for many years and had "a detailed knowledge of his matters."

He had also represented Mr. May at the 2001 court hearing.

Unfortunately, Mr. Cowper was on annual leave throughout February and felt that Mr. May's case may be prejudiced if he could not also be present at the committee meeting.

As such, he requested that the matter be adjourned until March 14 at the earliest.

As this date was after the next scheduled meeting of the licensing committee, members agreed to adjourn the matter until their meeting on April 1.