Crossword Genius

Prevent access of French licensed premises (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

debar

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'prevent access of french licensed premises' is the definition.
'debar' can be an answer for 'prevent' (I know that debar is a type of prevent). I am not sure about the 'access of french licensed premises' bit.

'prevent access of french' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'prevent' could be 'bar' (both can mean to ban or disallow) and 'bar' is located in the answer.
'of french' could be 'de' ('of' in French) and 'de' is located in the answer.
No letters remain.
This may be the basis of clue (or it may be nonsense).

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for debar that I've seen before include "Large advert" , "Exclude, prohibit" , "Prohibit (from doing something)" , "Rule out" , "Exclude (from right)" .)

I've seen this clue in The Irish Independent.
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