Licensing reform WILL create staggered closing

by Ewan Turney

Pubs and bars will close at staggered times throughout the night under the new licensing regime, the Department For Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS) has told MPs.

Venues have opted to close at varied times at the end of the evening - a move in line with hopes that the new regime will end mass 'chuck-outs' of customers at 11pm.

The news will come as a welcome relief to police who had feared that extended hours would simply shift the terminal hour to later in the evening.

The DCMS said that 98% of all applications, including off-licences and take-aways, had now been received with around 40% (74,000) applying for variations. Around 50% of applications to vary (37,000) attracted representations - half of those came from residents, 25% from police and 20% from environmental health officers. Mediation resolved two-thirds of cases before hearings.

JD Wetherspoon boss Tim Martin said his company did not receive a single representation against the conversion of its 650 licences, although some were received against variations.

However, Westminster council confirmed that 600 appeals to magistrates had been lodged. The hearings look set to run long into 2006 after a suggestion by the Magistrates Association - organising teams to deal with appeal 'hotspots' - was ignored by the DCMS.

Westminster councillor Audrey Lewis accused the DCMS of bringing the 'licensing regime into disrepute' by failing to postpone the second appointed day and provide guidance on what powers local authorities and police have to close unlicensed premises. A total of 344 premises in Westminster will have to close or will be operating illegally from 24 November - even if their applications are submitted before that date.

Lewis fears 'serious problems' will arise because unlicensed premises will no longer be in-sured, putting the public at risk.

'The West End is already suffering commercially from the introduction of the congestion charge and from events of 7/7,' she said. 'If doubts arise in the public mind about whether it is safe to visit licensed premises, it will come, before Christmas, at the worst possible time.'