An "out of control" Shepton Mallet pub has had its licence revoked following reports of prostitution, drug abuse and antisocial behaviour on its premises.

Avon and Somerset Constabulary applied to revoke the licence for the Bell Hotel on the High Street in Shepton Mallet, after gathering evidence about the premises for 18 months.

Licence holder Michael Taft – who has run the business for the last nine years – asked for a hearing on the matter to be adjourned, citing ill health and the desire to defend a young woman who had stayed on the site.

However, Mendip District Council has ruled that he should be formally stripped of his licence – days after he verbally surrendered it during a public hearing.

The council's licensing sub-committee met virtually to discuss the matter on Thursday (July 16), though its decision was not published on its website until today (July 21).

Mr Taft (who appeared via phone link) originally asked the hearing to be adjourned on the grounds of ill health, arguing: "I have been in and out of hospital a lot.

"I didn't think I'd be available at all at the moment. It takes me a day to work myself into doing half an hour of paperwork.

"They [the hospital] still haven't diagnosed the problem. I'm meant to be in bed now due to the risk of thrombosis."

Mr Taft, who has run the business for nine years, admitted that it was "a pub out of control" as a result of management issues.

He also admitted he had allowed a female "recovering drug addict" to stay at the pub, and said he would call her as a character witness if an adjournment was granted.

The woman's name was redacted in the official police reports, but Mr Taft named her as "Joanne" during the hearing.

He said: "I don't need the money, I don't need the business.

"I am defending my honour here, and hers. She was nursing me for three days."

After his request for an adjournment was denied, Mr Taft said he was happy to surrender his licence and said he had sold the business to a new owner – before hanging up the phone in the middle of the hearing.

He said: "I've sold it anyway. The new owners can apply for a new one. I've surrendered it officially now, so I have no licence."

Neighbourhood policing sergeant Rachel Clark said that intelligence gathered over the last 18 months had revealed that "drugs are openly being used at the premise and that the premise is being used as a brothel", adding Mr Taft was "fully aware of what is taking place".

She said the premises had been "a free-for-all" even during the recent lockdown, describing "late-night parties" and barbecues involving males between the ages of 18 and 22.

She said "Joanne" was "known to the police", adding that Mr Taft had damaged the town centre by "turning a blind eye" and that he had "a blatant disregard to work with the authorities to bring people to justice".

The police visited the pub on June 10, 2019 and took drug swabs which recorded 3.43 behind the bar, 3.67 in the bar area and counter and 3.37 in the men's toilet – with anything over three being regarded as a high level by the police's drugs unit.

Police also found "remnants of a white powder" and nitrous oxide (nos) cannisters on site.

An inspection of rooms upstairs in the pub during the same visit found "remnants of drug use and the rooms littered with beer/wine glasses, empty drinks bottles and ashtrays. Some of the rooms contained two to three mattresses on the floor".

During a further visit in October, police found "dog faeces on the floor" upstairs near the same mattresses and cigarette butts in the public area on the ground floor, indicating people had been smoking on the premises.

Officers from Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service stated the premises was "seriously non-compliant" and said there was a "serious risk to life" for those staying on the first floor in July 2019.

They reiterated these concerns following a fire at the pub on June 5, 2020.

A spokesman for the sub-committee confirmed today that the pub would have its licence revoked, stating the legal licensing objectives were "all being undermined by the activities that are being permitted to take place at the premises though lack of proper management".

The spokesman added there was "excessive non-compliance" with both the police and fire service, and "evidence of anti-social behaviour" on the premises in the last 18 months.