Pub owners face losing their licence over allegations of drugs, fighting and under-age drinking.

Traces of heroin in the toilet and cocaine behind the bar, alcohol being sold to a 16-year-old girl, drinkers assaulting police officers and the owner being arrested for being drunk and disorderly have been described during a licence review for the Harbour View pub in Wellington Road, Portslade.

Peter Saville, barrister for Sussex Police, told Brighton and Hove City Council’s licensing panel that the pub had been “connected with just about every disorder offence you can imagine”.

He said: “This is a licence that has been in the hands of this licence holder for less than a year, yet in that time there has been a catalogue of serious problems.

“These range from breach of the licence conditions, other allegations of drug use in the premises [and] allegation of under-age sales.

“They also have a number of allegations of drunkenness. Perhaps the greatest concern is one of the people said to be drunk at the premises is the licence holder himself.”

Police said the highest concentration of cocaine was found on top of the fridge and their report details traces of heroin also being found in the women’s toilet.

Police said there was an alleged sexual assault on the premises, a lack of CCTV and no ‘challenge 25’ signs.

Licence holder and owner Artan Bika said he had been “foolish” and blamed his inexperience.

The 42-year-old said he had placed his trust in staff who were untrained and the pub had now been turned around thanks to the intervention of his new designated premises supervisor William Seed.

Mr Seed is a friend of Mr Bika’s who had volunteered his services for free and took up his position in August this year following a complete management shake-up.

Mr Seed, 68, said: “It did not turn into a drug den when he took it over, it was already a drug den.

“Mr Bika had the wrong information, he had the wrong supervisor, and he had the poorly trained staff because he did not know how to begin to train people to sort the problems out.

“When you are sorting this out you have to start at the bottom and wipe everything out. You cannot repair a broken down business, you have to remake it.”

He said the pub now has completely new staff and Mr Bika no longer works behind the bar.

Councillor Stephanie Powell, chairwoman of the licensing committee, said the panel would make its decision within the next five days.