Licensee furious with council over licence application

A furious licensee says he has been forced to put his application for a licence variation on hold after his local council threatened to "solicit complaints" from residents.

The licensee, who was hoping to extend his hours on Fridays and Saturdays until 1am at his pub in Islington, North London, is now seeking legal advice.

During a meeting to confirm the application with Islington council he was told leaflets would be sent out to residents within a 50-metre radius of the pub informing them of his bid for an extended licence.

This would be in addition to his placing a notice in the pub's window notifying people of the proposed changes, and inserting an advertisement in a local newspaper.

"I think it's incredibly unreasonable," said the licensee, who did not wish to be named.

"We are concerned that people will get scared, when we only want a few extra hours at the weekend. We pride ourselves on being responsible.

"In my view the council would be soliciting complaints."

It is not the first case in the capital where a council has been seen to be over-stepping the mark.

In March licensees complained after Wandsworth Council encouraged residents to object to extended hour license applications from local pubs.

Martin Rawlings, director of pub and leisure at the British Beer and Pub Association, commented: "I do think Islington is being a bit over-zealous.

"A lot of councils moan about the cost, but how much would it cost to have these leaflets printed and distributed?

"There would be plenty of time for people to respond and if they live within a 50-metre radius of the pub then surely they would see the sign.

"If they don't pass the pub then how will they be affected by the problems."

But Islington has claimed its proposed action is "in the spirit of the legislation".

A spokeswoman said: "The new legislation encourages greater participation and residents are encouraged to get involved in the process.

"Extended hours will affect residents and they have a right to know. If it's affecting them on a daily basis then we have to take their concerns into account."

A spokeswoman for the Department for Culture Media and Sport said Islington was within its rights to send out a mailshot.

*Gateshead Council is the latest local authority to sound the warning bell over the lack of applications for the new licences.

Of an expected 1,600 applications, the council said it had so far received just 60 - and most of these have had to be returned to applicants because they included mistakes.

Paul Dowling, the council's head of regulatory services, said even applications filled out by "so-called experts" were being returned.

"The closer a licensee leaves it to the deadline the less chance there will be their application will go through - because there won't be time for them to correct it if it is incorrectly filled in," he said.

"The government has set a deadline of 6 August for applications to be made to convert existing licenses. Licensees need to be aware that, after that date, applicants will not be able to convert existing licenses - but will have to start again from scratch."