Glasgow truck stop refused permission to sell alcohol over drink-driving fears

A truck stop in Glasgow has been refused permission to sell alcohol over drink driving fears.

Patersons of Greenoakhill had applied for a premises licence for the diner at Route 74 Truck Stop on London Road.

Bosses said they wanted to give drivers staying overnight the opportunity to have “a couple of beers with dinner”.

But councillors on the city’s licensing board turned down the application, raising concerns over “potential accidents”.

A representative for the owners of the truck stop, who offer a parking, shower and meal package, said they wanted to provide a “modest range of alcohol to members of the general public and to any drivers who are staying overnight”.

He said currently, around “a quarter of the patrons to the restaurant are general members of the public”, and the firm is trying to increase those numbers.

The owners, he added, were previously responsible for running the Route 74 Truck Stop in Lesmahagow.

“These are experienced licensees with a good track record of running successful premises of this type,” he said.

Cllr Bill Butler, Labour, questioned the need to sell alcohol at the diner. The representative said: “It’s not uncommon for truck stops of this kind to have an alcohol licence.”

Cllr Alex Wilson, SNP, then said: “Technically, can a truck driver pop into this restaurant, consume a large amount of alcohol, or any alcohol, and then get back in his truck in the morning and drive away?”

One of the applicants said drivers are “restricted on the number of hours they can drive each day, so they will be in our premises for a significant amount of time”.

“Frequently, we sell a parking, shower and meal package and ultimately the requests we get from drivers is that it would be quite nice to consume a couple of beers with dinner.”

He added that they then return to their truck, sleep overnight and depart the next day. Cllr Wilson said: “What is to stop any driver popping in at 8pm, have a couple of beers, and get back on the road at 3am?”

The applicants said drivers’ professionalism, adding that it is “standard practice across a whole host of truck stops in the UK for alcohol to be available with evening meals”.

Cllr Wilson said: “You are relying on that professionalism. This is predominantly, as you’ve called it, a truck stop; it’s there for drivers to come in, use the facilities and move on.

“There is every chance they could take part in the facilities, have some alcohol and move on with alcohol still in their system.”

He added there is no “definitive” time that “alcohol stays in someone’s system… so that would mean that potentially someone could have alcohol in their system after using your truck stop and moving on.

“I do have concerns that this may cause potential accidents in the future.”

Cllr Dan Hutchison, who was chairing the board, said the application had been refused in line with the licensing objectives of preventing “crime and disorder, securing public safety… and improving public health”.