As John has posted below, the application from the National Pub seeking a change to their licence allowing them to put on live music until midnight every day of the week was rejected by a Licensing Panel which I sat on yesterday.
Whilst we allowed them permission to alter the internal layout of the pub we only granted them permission to put on live entertainment on a Friday and Saturday night until 11pm. They will however be allowed to offer live entertainment for longer on certain 'notable' days such as Christmas Eve, New Years Eve etc.
The panel was unanimous in its decision and we felt that this decision strikes a reasonable balance for local residents. John turned up to speak on behalf of local residents and made a powerful submission containing some important points.
Under Labour's new Licencing Act it can be very difficult for us to reject an application as we have to judge it on very tightly drawn grounds. However, John was able to persuade the panel that there would be an increase in public nuisance if the application for live entertainment every day of the week was granted.
