World Cup opening hours face objections from police
The police may consider lodging objections to early morning licence extensions for pubs wanting to cash in on next year's World Cup tournament.
The Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) has not ruled out the possibility of opposing moves to allow pubs to open from 6am for England matches, screened in the early morning because of the time difference with Japan and South Korea where the tournament is to be played.
A spokesman for the ACPO told thePublican.com that the issue had not yet been "officially discussed" but admitted that "there could be some problems with the opening times".
The time difference means one match will kick off at 6.30am UK time, while others will start at 7.30am, 8.30am and 10am.
Licensees will have to apply to the Magistrates' Association (MA) for individual extensions as tourism minister Dr Kim Howells has declared it is too late for a deregulation order to go through.
A spokeswoman for the Department of Culture, Media and Sport said: "Licensees can apply for an extension from the magistrates and it's down to the individual police forces whether they resist these applications or not."
The MA had denied reports that it has issued advice to benches urging them to grant any applications for extensions automatically unless there were objections.
Anne Flintham, spokeswoman for the MA, said the association would be meeting with Dr Howells later this month to discuss the issue and had no formal policy as yet.
But Mark Hastings, spokesman for the British Beer and Pub Association, was confident that pubs would be able to cash in. He said: "I can't see the police having a problem as this is not about serving as much alcohol as we can to customers before they go to work.
"It will give licensees the chance to show that pubs are about more than selling alcohol."
Related stories:
World Cup opening is still in balance (8 November 2001)
Pubs given nod to sell alcohol from 6am for World Cup matches (2 November 2001)
Early kick-off for World Cup means publicans may miss out on money-spinner (14 September 2001)
