Weston-super-Mare’s purple reign continues!

For the fourth year in a row, the town has been awarded the prestigious Purple Flag in recognition of its safe and diverse evening and night-time economy.

It follows a joint submission by North Somerset Council and the Weston Business Improvement District (BID) to the Association of Town and City Management who manage the national accreditation scheme.

Towns achieving Purple Flag status are recognised for providing a vibrant mix of night-time entertainment while promoting the safety and wellbeing of visitors and local residents.

In confirming Purple Flag status for Weston for another year the assessors said: “Weston-super-Mare continues to demonstrate good practice and innovation in the re-development and management of its evening and night-time economy.”

They highlighted a number of positive initiatives including:

• the recent launch of the “Best Bar None” accreditation scheme aimed at promoting responsible management and operation of licensed premises
• the traffic light scheme which ensures licensed premises meet certain standards – all premises in the Purple Flag area are currently rated “green”
• the “strong” partnership working by the various agencies involved in the evening and night-time economy.

The assessors also praised the “great range of new venues” and said it was “good to see” a five per cent decrease in recorded crime and anti-social behaviour in the town centre during the night-time economy period.

North Somerset Neighbourhood Inspector Jess Aston said: “It is great that Weston-super-Mare has again retained this important status, which reflects the hard work everyone puts into keeping our town’s residents, workers and visitors safe.

“Our dedicated weekend Operation Adjudicate continues to help ensure residents and visitors enjoy what the town has to offer in safety. We are extremely pleased that the good teamwork has been recognised.”