A SCHEME to sell booze from Boscombe Pier has sparked anti-social behaviour concerns.

Members of a BCP Council licensing sub-committee will consider a proposal put forward by Reefside to sell alcohol from its stores at the entrance to the pier.

But there has been heavy opposition to the plans from councillors and people living on the seafront over concerns it would lead to an “inevitable increase” in crime and anti-social behaviour.

Reefside Catering applied for a licence to sell alcohol from its kiosks until 7pm seven days a week.

In a bid to limit potential issues, it has committed to installing CCTV and limiting the amount of alcohol it sells to any individual.

It said it would “take all reasonable steps” to make sure its customers behave “in a quiet and orderly fashion”.

But despite these measures, its application has drawn objections from councillors and people living close by to the pier.

Boscombe West councillor Jane Kelly said the ability for the shop to sell alcohol would be “detrimental” and lead to an increase in incidents requiring police attendance.

“The sale of alcohol in this location would encourage street drinking around the pumping station and more requirement for public toilets than the current level,” she said.

“We have had issues in the past with rough sleeping in the enclosed seating areas behind the kiosks and I feel that this could again escalate if alcohol were available at the kiosks.

“Anti-social behaviour would probably also escalate and the refusal to serve those who were already drunk would cause situations not beneficial to our visitor experience.”

She warned it could also “exacerbate” issues with groups holding “raves” beneath the pier on weekends.

Her concerns have been echoed by fellow councillors Anne Filer and Roberto Rocca.

The application has also been opposed by the council’s seafront department which said the sale of alcohol from the pier would “cause a foreseeable uplift in police demand to the area”.

Alongside these, objections have been made from people living in the area, including Honeycombe Beach Residents’ Association which said “drunk, selfish individuals” would “disturb the comfort, safety and security of both residents and families visiting the beach”.

A decision will be made by a council licensing sub-committee on Tuesday.