Wetherspoon set to serve alcohol from 10am

Pub group JD Wetherspoon is taking a radical step to try and serve alcohol from 10am in all its 630 pubs.

The company is to lodge applications with licensing magistrates across the country to allow its pubs to serve from 10am. If successful, the move would extend licensing hours for almost all pubs in advance of licensing reform.

The plan emerged after Wetherspoon lodged an application with Cardiff magistrates to serve alcohol in its four pubs in the Welsh capital from 10am. The court has now launched a consultation on whether licensing hours in the city should be generally extended by an hour from the current 11am start.

The company plans to lodge applications for all its pubs to serve alcohol. Many pubs already open at 10am to serve breakfast, tea and coffee.

Mrs Sarah Potghieter, licensing officer for Cardiff Magistrates Court, said: "The application from JD Wetherspoon to extend its hour would clearly not just apply to its pubs. Before we can make a general change in licensing policy we're obliged to consult."

Cardiff Country Council and other relevant bodies are being consulted, and Mrs Potghieter said the court would also like to hear views from elsewhere in the trade before magistrates make their decision in February.

Wetherspoon spokesman Eddie Gershon said "We've always said that extended hours are not an issue as long as pubs are well managed and staff are well trained.

"We're talking about serving customers such as shift workers who might currently not be able to have a pint until 11am and would now be able to have one at 10am. In Cardiff, we've put our case to the magistrates and ultimately it's a decision for them to make."