Steve Rawling The Politics Show North West

Pubs will be allowed to be open longer

Over 9,000 venues in the North West are taking advantage of the new licensing laws to stay open longer and later.

An exclusive survey by The Politics Show reveals how many pubs, bars, hotels and clubs have been granted extensions to the hours they can open and serve alcohol in your area.

Not surprisingly, cities like Liverpool, Salford and Manchester top the league table, with over 1,500 late drinking licences between them.

Many of the new licences have gone to hotels in the region, allowing them to keep in residents' bars open later.

Refusals

Very few applications - just 35 - were refused outright. But in many cases local councils reduced the hours pub and club owners wanted, following objections from the police or public.

The Minister responsible for licensing, James Purnell, told BBC Northwest Tonight that 80% of venues would close at midnight or one o'clock.

"One of the key goals of the Act was to get rid of this 11 o'clock closing time, which has meant people all being chucked out on the streets at the same time," he said.

"That has been one of the main reasons there has been so much alcohol fuelled violence between eleven and midnight."

24-hour licences

Sixty-three venues asked for 24 hour licences but only 53 were awarded, and around a third of these were supermarkets.

On Politics Show, we ask what these changes will mean for the night time economy of the region.

Will it lead to an increase in binge drinking?

Let us know what you think of the changes - are you looking forward to joining the 24 hour party people, or do you predict a riot?

Council	Applications for extended licences	24hr licences granted
Liverpool	656	6
Salford	540	1
Tameside	450	2
Manchester	440	6
Wigan	379	1
Bolton	375	2
Stockport	344	2
Chester City	320
Bury	320	1
Wirral	302	2
South Lakeland	300	1
Chorley	285	2
Rochdale	269	2
Sefton	263	1
Fylde	260
Lancaster City	255	2
St Helens	234	3
Hyndburn	232	1
Blackburn with Darwen	203
Warrington	203
Preston City	200	1
Congleton	200
Blackpool	190
Trafford	168	3
Ellesmere Port & Neston	166	1
Vale Royal	166
West Lancashire	163
Burnley	150	1
Crewe & Nantwich	146
Wyre	138
Rossendale	135
High Peak	134	1
Barrow in Furness	129	2
Pendle	120	2
Halton	100	1
Knowsley	91	3
Ribble Valley	90
South Ribble	80	1
Macclesfield		1
Oldham		4
Total	9196	54

Oldham and Macclesfield councils were unable to supply the information requested.

Jim Hancock will be joined by Home Office Minister Paul Goggins and the Regional Director of Public Health, Professor John Ashton to discuss the new licensing laws.

The Politics Show

Join Jim Hancock and Gill Dummigan on the Politics Show on Sunday 04 December 2005 at Noon on BBC One.

Have your say - let us know what you think

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