An Essex pub has had its alcohol licence suspended after significant concerns over incidents of violence.

Essex Police's licensing team submitted the application to a town council following increased concern over incidents of violence connected to a pub in Essex.

The incidents have been connected to the Clock House pub in Harlow.

The most recent incident resulted in two men being seriously injured in the early hours of June 18.

One of those men sustained a fractured skull.

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Other incidents which formed part of the application to Harlow Council included an incident in early hours of May 28, where four separate violent crimes were recorded.

An incident in the early hours of May 1 saw a large fight break out, and in the early hours of April 30 a large disturbance was reported and one violent crime was recorded.

Between December 2021 and June 2022, Essex Police recorded 17 incidents of violent crime directly associated with the premises.

That has led to the force raising significant concerns as to how the venue was being operated, including the level of intoxication being permitted while customers were there and about how staff deal with customers who become very drunk.

Despite a number of attempts by the licensing team to engage with the pub’s owners, Stonegate, including an agreed action plan, Essex Police claims matters did not improve and a fast-track application for review of a premises licence was submitted to the council.

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As part of that application, officers asked Harlow Council to suspend the venue’s alcohol licence as an interim stop, ahead of a full licensing hearing.

The application was heard last Friday (June 24) and was approved.

The committee took note of the serious escalation in violence associated with the premises, the prolonged period over which the incidents have taken place and the attempted interventions by Essex Police which it claims have not yielded any changes at the venue.

Gordon Ashford, Essex Police licensing manager, said “It is unfortunate that we felt it necessary to seek a suspension of the premises licence to sell alcohol; but we have done so to protect the public from escalating serious violence associated with the venue.

“We have already had productive discussions with Stonegate (the licence holder) and hope, ahead of a full hearing, that measures can be agreed upon to allow the venue to re-open on or before 20 July if the sub-committee is satisfied those measures are sufficient to protect the public.”

Chief Inspector Paul Austin, Harlow district commander, said: “This action shows that Essex Police in Harlow is dedicated to tackling serious violence in our community.

“As stated by our licensing team, we will work with venues to support them, however where standards aren’t met, we won’t hesitate to take action to protect our communities from serious harm.”