Inflatable pubs

Plenty of people hire an inflatable pub for a garden party, a wedding or a club day. It brings two questions with it. One is whether you can sell drinks in it. The other is whether it will stay put when the wind gets up.

Selling drinks needs permission

The Home Office says businesses, organisations and individuals who want "to sell or supply alcohol in England and Wales must have a licence or other authorisation from a licensing authority". That authority is usually the local council.

The Licensing Act 2003 lists the licensable activities in section 1. The first is "the sale by retail of alcohol". Providing regulated entertainment is on the same list.

A Temporary Event Notice

GOV.UK says you contact your council for a Temporary Event Notice (TEN) if you want to carry out a licensable activity on unlicensed premises in England or Wales. Selling drinks from a bar in a garden, a field or a club ground without a licence is the kind of activity a TEN covers.

"You can only apply for a TEN as an individual, not an organisation." You can get up to 5 TENs a year, or up to 50 if you already hold a personal licence to sell alcohol.

The latest you can apply for a "late TEN" is 5 clear working days before the event, and no earlier than 9 clear working days before it. If the police or environmental health object to a late TEN, the notice is not valid and the event cannot go ahead. Your council's licensing team decides the rest.

Music and dancing

The TEN page counts providing entertainment, such as music and dancing, as a licensable activity. GOV.UK's entertainment licensing guidance says whether a licence is needed for music "will depend on the circumstances", and it sets out when one is not required.

What HSE's inflatables advice covers

HSE's advice on inflatables is written for inflatables covered by BS EN 14960, the British Standard for inflatable play equipment. An inflatable pub is not a bouncy castle.

The same page says health and safety law "applies to the supply, hire and use of inflatables for commercial purposes. It does not apply to private, domestic buyers and users."

Wind and anchoring

HSE's play inflatables page opens by saying serious incidents have occurred where inflatables have collapsed or blown away in windy conditions. For an inflatable pub, ask the hire firm for the maker's operating manual. Ask what it says about the wind limit, the anchor points and who puts it up.

Fire safety

The Home Office fire safety guide for open-air events and venues does not cover air-supported structures. Ask the hire firm, and the organiser if there is one, how fire safety is handled for the structure you hire.

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