Doormen wait months for licence

Venues across the West Midlands are facing major headaches because doormen have spent months waiting for their licences to be renewed.

Pub and club door staff have been unable to work for up to four months following a delay in processing applications by the Security Industry Authority. The authority moved premises from Newcastle to London November and the upheaval has caused the renewal forms to pile up, leaving venues in the lurch.and people's livelihoods under threat.

Neil Wilkes, a 31-year-old married father-of-three from Merridale in Wolverhampton, has been forced to give up his full-time job as a door supervisor at Wolverhampton Civic Hall due to the blunder and find new work.

Doormen are not entitled to claim benefits because they are technically not unemployed.

"I really enjoyed my job but I had to get a new one because I have a family to support," he said. "I sent off for my renewal on November 14 and have been told it could take another four months to sort out."

Mr Wilkes, who works for city-based security firm BBP which provides door supervisors for the Civic, has written to Wolverhampton South West MP Rob Marris to plead for help with the situation.

"It was a really interesting job but I won't go back to it full-time again," he said. "This has been a nightmare. It has been stressful time for my wife but at least I have found a new job I enjoy."

The Security Industry Authority has blamed the delays on a backlog of licence renewal forms caused when it moved.

But Gary Jones, who runs BBP Security, said the problem was "messing with people's livelihoods". He said at least six of the door supervisors on the company's books had been affected by the delays.

"It is an issue which really needs bringing up because really good members of staff are being told they can't work," he said.

"A spokeswoman from the authority said: "We had to move our operation in November to improve the service which is what has caused the backlog.

"We are still going through all the licence renewals and this is a problem we are aware of. We apologise for any inconvenience this has caused."