Police have applied to the Alcohol Regulatory and Licensing Authority (Arla) to have Heff's Hotel's on-licence and publican Stephen Clark's managers licence cancelled.
A hearing on the applications was held in Dunedin yesterday.
The applications relate to two incidents at the hotel earlier this year.
Stuff reported several officers entered the hotel just before midnight on March 24 after an anonymous call to police said an intoxicated staff member was working behind the bar.
One of the officers approached publican Stephen Clark, who he described as intoxicated.
The officer said Mr Clark admitted he had been drinking through the night, but his duty manager had only just left.
About a month later, police visited the bar again and found the cleaner working behind the bar on her first shift.
Concerns were also raised about a the lack of a substantial food menu.
Speaking to the Otago Daily Times yesterday, Mr Clark's lawyer Andrew More said he argued it would be better if a new manager was appointed, rather than the bar's licence being cancelled.
Closing the bar would not only affect the eight staff but also the 10 people who lived upstairs - many of whom were long-term tenants - and the hotel's patrons, Mr More said.
``My client feels the trouble only arrives when the police visit and he runs a fairly community-based operation there and I think he feels for a lot of his patrons it's their only social interaction.''
Mr Clark felt the police were unfairly targeting him, though past incidents did mean he would be watched more closely, Mr More said.
Police declined to comment yesterday and referred any questions to the Ministry of Justice.
The hearing was chaired by Judge Kevin Kelly and a decision is expected within two to three weeks.
It is not the first time the bar and Mr Clark have been in front of the licensing authority.
Last year the bar was forced to close for a week and Mr Clark and duty manager at the time Jessie Matheson were banned from selling alcohol for six and eight weeks respectively.
The bans came after police found people drinking at the pub on Christmas Day in 2016 and it was found to be operating outside of its licence hours.
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Comments
These incidents were commented on by Kate Hawkesby, as an op ed on News talk ZB. There was also some drunken behaviour on the street, around a police car. A new manager and observance of the licensing law about staff not working drunk are called for. Punter overreaction to a police visit is typical 'entitled' behaviour.
Why on earth Mr Clark is still in charge of this ‘fine’ establishment beggars belief.