Edinburgh pub group battles capacity restriction

An Edinburgh-based pub group has launched a legal battle against the council which has ordered the firm to build more female toilets or face capacity restrictions.

The city's Caledonian Heritable group was told its capacity would be cut at three of its bars after Edinburgh Licensing Board decided it did not have enough female toilets.

This led the group to initiate a judicial review against the decision, and last week the pub was granted an interim suspension of the decision while the case continues.

At the Pear Tree, which has three female toilets, capacity was cut from 412 to 200 — the new policy calls for one toilet for every 30 customers and an equal number of male and female loos.

Separate reviews will also be launched for Clark's Bar, on Dundas Street, and The Ormelie Bar in Joppa.

A source told the Morning Advertiser that the case would be significant as it would highlight whether Edinburgh Licensing Board actually had the power to enforce such a change. In addition, pubs which had already had their capacities reduced could come back and ask for them to be increased once again.

The problems arose when the Board started using information from building control officers, and enforcing on older premises the same standards they use for new properties.