A CONTROVERSIAL Bexleyheath pub has been cleared by magistrates of allowing dancing without a licence.

Bar Ice manager Stephen Selby, of Northend Road, Erith, and co-owner Kemal Djemal, of Longlands Road, Sidcup, pleaded not guilty to allowing dancing in the bar in Crook Log, on May 29 last year.

Bexley Magistrates' Court heard how residents had alerted Inspector John McIlgrew and Sergeant Robert Wiggins to the pub, claiming to have seen up to 30 people dancing through the open windows.

When they confronted Mr Selby, he said the bar did not have a dancing licence but he could not stop people dancing.

But in court, Mr Selby denied people were dancing and said the pub had strict rules to prevent it. Mr Djemal said it was so crowded that night, there was no room to dance.

Finding them not guilty, chairman of the bench Malcolm Grace said there were "some elements of doubt" on whether the pub had provided facilities for people to dance. He awarded the men a total of £1,400 costs.

Bexley Council granted Bar Ice a public entertainment licence in October last year, in the face of fierce opposition from residents and the police but attached a string of conditions. The licence has not yet been activated.