Wolverhampton private hire venue keeps licence after fight at unauthorised party

City of Wolverhampton Council’s licensing committee has allowed private hire venue Vaal & Vaal in Raglan Street, Chapel Ash, Wolverhampton to keep its licence after it was reviewed at the request of West Midlands Police.

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The venue failed to call 999 in January after a man was left unconscious following a fight that took place during a post-midnight event that the owners did not have permission to hold.

At the hearing on March 17, the council’s licensing committee agreed to change Vaal & Vaal’s licence to include requirements on extensive CCTV, incident and refusal logs, registered door staff and staff training.

West Midlands Police said the venue, which has a licence to serve alcohol until midnight and 1am on Bank Holidays, did not have a temporary event notice (TEN) for the late-night 18th birthday party on January 10 earlier this year and had not applied for one.

CCTV footage showed a fight had taken place outside the venue at around 2am which left a man unconscious but was not reported to police.

West Midlands Police said the venue’s owners had been “dismissive of the seriousness” of the incident in January and their “lack of knowledge and skills” had led to several failures.

The hearing heard how the Raglan Street venue had begun as a hairdressers and salon when it was taken over in 2018 but the owners had moved towards hosting parties and celebrations as part of a new private venue in recent years.

The salon closed its doors at the end of January.

More than 200 events have been held since opening and City of Wolverhampton Council recently approved Vaal & Vaal’s request to extend its opening hours to 2am.

West Midlands Police said it had received a report of a fight involving six men with knives outside the venue at around 2.16am on January 10 though officers did not later record any evidence of weapons.

The police report published ahead of the meeting said the venue had blamed an “administration oversight” while admitting to selling alcohol after hours – with the event lasting until 2am and CCTV showing drinks being served until 1.46am.

West Midlands Police said security staff did not intervene or assist the injured person and the venue said it was only aware of the incident after the council had contacted them and CCTV footage was inspected. The venue also admitted that door staff were “not up to scratch” during the incident.

West Midlands Police said the venue had provided CCTV footage of an earlier incident where a man appeared to be lying unconscious outside the venue after a fight and the incident was not reported to police nor relayed to officers responding to the later 999 call.

The police report added: “During the meeting the premise licence holder advised that there is currently an application to extend the licensing hours at the premise which had been recently submitted to Wolverhampton Council.

“The premise licence holder explained how this was fundamental to their business but showed little understanding or acknowledgement for the seriousness of the incidents which had taken place at their premises.”

In its objections, West Midlands Police said Vaal & Vaal staff had not taken responsibility for the incident and had “failed to uphold the licensing objectives” by not calling police.

“West Midlands Police are concerned of the lack of management at this premise and failure to notify changes to the premise and business, conditions on the current licence are not suitable for what the premise is being used for, and several of the conditions are not enforceable,” it said.

West Midlands Fire Service said the venue did not have a suitable fire risk assessment in place and needed to provide certificates for fire alarms and emergency lighting.

The fire service said the venue’s decorations were not fire resistant and the owners also needed to install permanent lights above fire exits.