The Elephant’s Head is keeping its 2am licence

PUBLICANS who have helped make Camden Town a must-do destination breathed a sigh of relief this week after a historic bar fought off attempts by police to slash its opening hours.

The Elephant’s Head, in Camden High Street, has been trading since the early 1800s but its future looked grim when officers asked the Town Hall to curb its licence.

Owner Ann Monaghan feared if the police had won, the pub – which holds a 2am licence – would not be viable and closure had been on the cards. A review hearing on Thursday heard the pub had been named in a series of incidents that made police worry for customer safety.

But Ms Monaghan and manager Vince Heavey – who were backed at the meeting by other Camden Town pub landlords including Henry Conlon from the Dublin Castle – successfully argued the pub had been unfairly singled out. Licensing councillors were told that its position at one of the biggest road junctions meant it was often named in incident reports even if the trouble is not connected to the pub.

Mr Heavey told the New Journal: “Every licensed premises wants a good relationship and partnership with the police, and we do everything in every way to help to keep our streets safe. We feel a deep sense of responsibility to anyone who comes across our threshold and we welcome into our pub.”

But he added: “People come from all over and they get the real Camden experience. This pub is an institution. We are a massive part of Camden’s culture, along with places like The Good Mixer, The Oxford, The Dublin.

Ms Monaghan said the decision by police officers to ask for the review in early December had been a horrifying experience, adding: “I am just happy it’s over. It is our home, our lives. We were shocked to get this call in and it has cost us thousands to defend our business.”

Ms Monaghan said: “If we had our hours reduced, it could have had a knock-on effect for the other pubs here.”

Barrister Mark O’Brien, representing the police, told the committee: “Evidence shows repeated problems and failings in reporting crime.

“They have undermined safety. Instead of forgetting and forgiving, we have to change the hours.”

He added he was not calling for the pub to be shut, but with different conditions that included a new security team and a review of staff training. “The pub does make a real contribution and we accept the pub otherwise runs without incident during the day,” he said.

PC Joel Francis added: “We feel unfortunately that in this part of Camden they are slightly out of their depth.” But councillors disagreed, and voted not to cut the trading hours.