The Evening Times can reveal since the policy came in at the end of January, 71 clubs & bars have asked permission to serve some drinks in traditional glasses. Of these 62 have been given the nod & 3 applications are pending. Critics have called into question the need for a blanket ban when so many places were being given exemptions. Most have been granted for venues looking to serve champagne & wine by the bottle. Some others have been allowed to continue serving drinks in glass in certain parts of the premises, sometimes with a time limit &, a handful of clubs & bars have been told they are totally excluded from the policy. Most of the premises granted exemptions have entertainment licences, meaning they are clubs or music venues. But a number have been received from bars keen to be ahead of the game when the ban is rolled out to them next January. The figures come just days after the Scottish Beer & Pub Association launched a legal bid to overturn the ban. SBPA, which represents around 1500 venues, wants the policy targeted at problem premises & clubs with a younger clientele rather than a blanket ban. The figures for exemptions have been released following revelations there have been just 5 city centre "glassings" since January, with injuries kept to a minimum in two incidents as toughened glass was used. In 2005, city centre glass attacks averaged six a month.The architect of the ban, licensing board convener Councillor Gordon Macdiarmid, said: "The licensing board remains entirely confident in relation to the legality of our policy. "There will be no further comment on this matter until the case has been heard." But Patrick Browne, head of the SBPA, said: "If these exemptions are so generous then why have a blanket ban? It re-enforces our central argument of a targeted approach."
