Majority of licensees say Licensing Act not a success

Only a third of licensees believe that the Licensing Act has been a success.

A MorningAdvertiser.co.uk poll revealed that just 35% of respondents believed the act has been advantageous to them.

The majority (54%) deemed the act, which granted pubs the ability for more flexible opening hours, a failure.

A further 11% said that it was too early to judge its impact.

The poll comes after last week's official Government review of the Licensing Act, which hailed it as a success for helping in reducing violent crime by 10% and overall crime by 1%.

The average closing time amongst pubs has increased by just 21 minutes.

Licensees are still reeling from the huge bureaucratic burden and cost of the new regime.

Many have also realised that staying open later does not mean more people are going to the pub while staff and utility costs have soared as a result.

Pubs are also deeply concerned about the power given to local residents to appeal against opening hours and powers given to police to spark a review of its licence.