The Ashford Partnership Against Crime is a Business Crime Reduction Partnership.
We are a collection of businesses, working together in Partnership with Kent Police, Ashford Borough Council and KCC to try to reduce crime and disorder in Ashford.
We are not a public body, nor do we carry out any public functions.
We are run independently of the police and local authority; they have no involvement in our decision making regarding the running of our Scheme or the banning of persons from our venues.
So what powers do we have to bar people from our venues?
Just about all retail and leisure venues are privately owned, but as they want customers to use their facilities there is an ‘implied right of entry’. This means you are generally invited to enter. Businesses can remove that invitation should they wish.
This has been challenged a number of times over the years, but three Appeal Court rulings have confirmed the right of businesses to ban people from their premises.
R(Proud) v Buckingham Pubwatch 2008
R(Boyle) v Haverhill Pubwatch 2009
R(Mawusi) v CAMBAC et al 2014
It is important to know that a Shop or PubWatch ban is not a punishment; it is a civil ban. However, should a person breach that ban, we will seek help from Kent Police and Ashford Borough Council to support us in enforcing the ban through powers available under the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014.
Have I been banned?
A person can be banned from our venues for a number of reasons, including repeated anti-social behaviour; committing crime in or near to our business venues; or for threatening behaviour.
Our venues report such incidents to the Scheme Manager via a secure reporting system, and a decision is then made whether the person involved meets the criteria to be barred.
If we have contact details for that person we try to notify them; we can apply to Kent Police for contact details in some circumstances. Failing that, we rely on our venues to notify the person responsible the next time they are seen.
How Do I Know What Premises I’m Barred From?
You can be barred under our Shop Watch Scheme, or our Pub Watch Scheme. Most (but not all) of our businesses display a sticker near to their entry door as shown below.
You can see our venues on the map below.
If you want to find out whether you are on a Shop or Pub watch ban; when your ban expires; what venues you are banned from; why you are banned; please go to our Contact Us page and use our Contact Form.
You can use the buttons at the top of the page to view our Privacy Notice; to Appeal A Ban; or to submit a Subject Access Request to find out what information we hold about you.