On Tuesday 21 January JD Wetherspoon will open a pub at a motorway service station on the M40. Commenting on the opening, Sir Ian Gilmore, Royal College of Physicians' special adviser on alcohol and chair of the Alcohol Health Alliance, said:
I am disappointed by the decision to open a JD Wetherspoon on the M40. We are trying to prevent harm from alcohol-related traffic accidents and this sends out completely the wrong message.
The appearance of bars on our motorway network adds greater urgency to the Alcohol Health Alliance’s call for a fundamental review of licensing laws, focusing on the availability of alcohol and reducing alcohol-related harm. Public health should be a core licensing objective, and the impact on the health of local people must be a key consideration.
For media enquiries, please contact RCP public affairs manager, Andrew McCracken, on 0203 075 1354 or email andrew.mccracken@rcplondon.ac.uk