by Lucy Britner

A licensing advisor in Lincoln-shire believes he has won the only three 24-hour licences in the county. Michael Kheng, director of Kurnia Licensing Consultants and a bar operator in Lincolnshire, made 12 applications for 24-hour licences and was granted three. He said: 'Two of the app- lications were granted with no fuss because they were for hotels and people don't seem to think there will be any disorderly behaviour there. 'The other was for a pub on the coast, just north of Skegness, which wanted a 24-hour licence to show films, stage plays and play music inside and outside the pub. 'We kept our heads down for 28 days and no objections were made, but I think it might have just been down to luck that no one had noticed the application until the 28 days were up.' Kheng said police objected to nine applications on the basis that their shift patterns would not allow proper control. He added: 'They said it would mess up shift patterns for them if they had to make an arrest in the middle of the night and then have to do overtime. 'This was an odd objection because it doesn't correspond with the four criteria for licensing.' The nine other premises - all pubs - are unable to sell alcohol between 3am and 6am but are allowed to remain open. Kheng didn't think that would stop people from drinking between those times. 'There's no reason why people can't buy 10 pints at 3am and sit with them until 6am,' he maintained. He applied for temporary event notices (TENs) for one pub that was refused a 24-hour licence - to be used every weekend. Police objected saying they felt this 'wasn't in the spirit of the Act' but failed to inform Kheng within 48 hours so the objection was thrown out. A backlog at East Lindsey District Council means a number of licensees will not receive their paperwork in time for 24 November. Kheng thinks that many licensees will be annoyed when they realise the hours granted to other operators. 'When the Christmas rush pipes down and licensees start talking, I think some will be aggrieved,' he added. Kurina has handled 164 premises and 243 personal licences in t he past six months alone.