Chris Henchliffe's family launch petition calling for pubs and clubs to close earlier

Christopher Henchliffe, aged 26, of Maynard Road, Chesterfield, was involved in an incident outside the Pomegranate Theatre in Chesterfield in July this year and suffered serious head injuries. He died in hospital more than a week later.

A petition set-up on behalf of the family says: “Chris’s family are heartbroken after such a massive loss, and want to make a positive step towards preventing this tragedy from happening to others.

“A number of bars in Chesterfield have extended hours licences, meaning people can continue to drink sometimes up until 6am.

“We believe that a licence limit of around 1.30am-2am would allow police, door staff and CCTV operators to monitor popular areas and prevent further tragedies.

“People are loading up on alcohol prior to a night out and aren’t entering the town centre until sometimes 10pm onwards to continue with ‘happy hour’ where cheap shots and drink offers are used as an incentive to go into a venue.”

The petition then goes on to mention statistics taken from the website: www.ukcrimestats.com.

“Between August 2015 and July 2016, there were 256 incidents of violent crime in the town centre and over 820 incidents of anti-social behaviour.

“We believe that extended hours licences directly contribute to increased crime and anti-social behaviour, by encouraging people to drink more and stay out for a longer period of time.”

Derbyshire police chiefs and borough council bosses say they are working with each other to review the safety of the town centre following Mr Henchliffe’s death.

Chris’s mum, Yvonne, aged 49, also of Maynard Road, Chesterfield, said: “There has been some great feedback. But there is so much more to be done.”

To sign the petition, called ‘Make Chesterfield town centre safer, remove extended hours licences in pubs and clubs’ go to: Chris Henchliffe petition