A Tenby public house is set to appeal against a decision to cut its opening hours. After a seven-hour hearing at County Hall, Haverfordwest, on Tuesday, the Three Mariners had its operating hours reduced by Pembrokeshire County Council's licensing sub-committee, after police claimed that last year the pub could be linked to more than 10 per cent of crime within the town walls. However, following the decision, licensees of the St. George Street pub, Keith and Lisa May, questioned the statistics police had used in evidence when opposing the renewal of their public entertainment licence. "The recorded crime statistics used against us at the hearing were totally inaccurate and misleading," stressed Mrs. May. "How can a 'phone call made by us requiring an ambulance to assist a girl who was having an epileptic fit on our property be used as a statistic against us? "We've constantly tried to work with the police in assisting them with any incidents, including their anti-drugs campaign, yet we find that reporting any incidents in relation to the matter are being used as crime statistics against us. "We're also perplexed as to how a number of these reported incidents can be directly connected to our premises, when some of them have been recorded as taking place in St. George Street between the hours of 1 and 4 am, when we are closed." Mr. and Mrs. May had submitted an application to renew their current licence, which sees the pub open from Monday to Saturday, from 11 am to 1 am, and until 12.30 am on a Sunday. The matter had previously been adjourned at the request of the applicants' solicitor, Mr. Paul Cowper, of Lowless and Lowless. At this week's hearing, however, the committee heard from Tenby's chief of police, Inspector Les Clark, who had compiled a dossier of recorded crime incidents that could be linked directly to the Three Mariners. "I have researched the force command and control system and I am able to say with certainty that of 255 crimes committed within the town walls area of Tenby during the whole of last year, 34 were directly linked to the Three Mariners, with 20 of these offences related to assaults, including serious assaults, and other types of disorder, including affray," he said. Community safety officer, PC Max Bevan, of Pembroke Dock police station, who along with the county council's licensing officer, Sarah Oliver, had visited the premises on several occasions, also expressed concern that the external CCTV system used at the pub had not been upgraded within a requested time period and in his opinion it was not "fit for purpose." However, the applicants' solicitor, Mr. Cowper, pointed out that there had been some confusion over this issue and because of the premises' listed building status, planning permission from the National Park Authority had been required before the external CCTV system could be installed, all of which had delayed the process. Police licensing officer Tony Davies was also present to show some 37 minutes of CCTV footage recorded by the town's system over a two-month period during last summer. This, he believed, demonstrated incidents of violence, noise and general disruption in St. George Street and directly outside the Three Mariners. "You can see from this footage of the way the door staff conduct themselves at the entrance to the premises, that the establishment is not being managed in a correct manner," remarked Mr. Davies. "Instead of quietening people down when they leave the premises or gather outside it, door staff can be clearly seen taking part in any antics. "Just who is running the place?" he queried. "It seems like the licensees have handed over public control to the doormen, who in return are acting like sheriffs of the town in the way they conduct themselves." Two members of the door staff, Alex Ward and Glen Smith, who were featured in the CCTV footage, were present to defend themselves and some of the actions they had taken while on duty. "Sometimes, through the Pubwatch scheme, we have received calls through our radio links with other public houses within the town, where they have required assistance in dealing with an incident, so we have only been doing our duty in helping the community when we have left our posts," explained Mr. Smith. "Also, we have always made sure that we are covered both inside and outside our premises when these occasions have arisen. "It's almost like the police are trying to undermine us because they can't afford to police the town after 11 pm during the week," he added. Indeed, Mr. Cowper suggested that assumptions could be made that the CCTV footage compiled to highlight the problems in St. George Street could link any incidents in that particular area to the Three Mariners. "I'm sure that if you compiled a DVD of similar recordings from CCTV footage taken on Tudor Square you would be able to present similar documentation for other areas of the town on any busy weekend during the summer," he said. Mr. May also defended the actions of his door staff. "I have very brave doormen working for me who do a very good service and on a number of occasions have been commended by the local police for the way they have assisted them with any anti-social incidents that have occurred in St. George Street," he said. In fact, Mr. Cowper produced a letter Insp. Clark had written to Mr. May commending two members of door staff from the pub who had assisted his officers during an incident they were dealing with. "It is probable that without the door staff's assistance, officers may well have been assaulted," wrote Insp. Clark. Mr. May said he couldn't understand why his pub was being targeted by police when they were always co-operative with the authorities and always reported any incidents. "It seems that Insp. Clark has a vendetta against our pub and in general against Tenby holiday culture, and while I appreciate he has a job to do, I do not understand why he's targeted the Three Mariners," he stated. Mrs. May also believed that their premises took 'a lot of flak' as it was en route to a number of fast-food outlets at the end of the street, where many people headed after a night out. "It's common knowledge that a night out in the town will invariably see a group take a certain route on their way through the town, which will often see them visit our establishment last of all or more often than not on the way to get a takeaway, so a lot of the time we are quiet early on and busier towards the end of the night," she said. Also objecting to the application were the Tenby Walled Town Residents Association and Tenby Town Council. The council originally had no objections to the licence renewal when it first came before them, but had changed their minds after further correspondence with Insp. Clark, who had previously attended meetings to discuss anti-social behaviour and policing in general in the town. At the hearing, attention was also drawn to a report by the Charities Commission into a complaint that the pub had not handed over funds received in an 'open bucket' collection for the 'Baby Seal Rescue Centre' in Milford Haven. "I believe that the system of charity collection activities operated by Mr. May was chaotic and brings into sharp focus the lack of management control he has over the premises," commented Insp. Clark. However, Mrs. May, who was responsible for placing any charity collections made as donations at the premises into a building society account, strongly denied the report. "We have always historically supported many local charities, and with regards to the Baby Seal collection, that was just a misunderstanding, which we have cleared up. "We have always tried to help people and give something back to the community, but it seems that it's trying to be thrown back in our faces and has caused us a lot of grief," she said. In summing up his clients' case, Mr. Cowper remarked: "Aside from the objections presented here today from the police, TTC and TWTRA, there has been an overwhelming amount of support for the Three Mariners from local residents and businesses. "Indeed, a lot of the evidence presented by the police objecting to the application has nothing to do with my clients' establishment and merely highlights incidents that have happened across the town that actually have nothing to do with the Three Mariners," he remarked. After deliberating on the matter, the licensing sub-committee ruled that the pub should close at 11 pm Monday to Thursday, 12.30 am on Fridays, 1 am on Saturdays and 11.30 am on Sundays The decision, they said, had been made on grounds of deficiency in the management of the premises, crime disorder problems not being addressed and door staff needing to adopt a more professional stance. Later, Insp. Clark issued the Observer with the following statement: "The hearing into the application for the PEL at the Three Mariners lasted a full seven hours and all of the issues were examined in detail. I presented an open and honest portrayal of statistics and also presented a report prepared by the Charities Commission and the submission by Tenby Town Council into anti-social behaviour in Wales. All of the material I presented was open to scrutiny and was looked at in some detail. "After hearing all that was said to them, the licensing sub-committee seem to have compromised and I am satisfied with their judgement in the matter, and would like to thank them for the work they have done in this regard." The applicants later confirmed that they would be appealing against the decision, with the pub continuing to trade under its current opening hours until that was heard. "We will be appealing against the decision as we were obviously unhappy with the outcome," said Mrs. May. "We also felt that the committee rushed to their conclusion after what had been a long hearing."