Restaurant on Otley Run route plans to become bar

A venue on Leeds' famous Otley Run route has applied for retrospective planning permission to change from a restaurant to a bar.

Taylor's Sports Bar and Grill opened in March 2023 on Otley Road in Headingley, which is famous for its 2.5-mile fancy dress pub crawl involving 19 venues.

The Otley Run, which was originally a student event but is now popular with stag and hen parties at weekends, has come under fire in recent years for anti-social behaviour linked to drinkers.

In its planning application to Leeds City Council, Taylor's said it had already demonstrated it would "not add to or worsen the impacts of the Otley Run".

Despite having opened under the guise of a restaurant which sold alcohol three years ago, the planning statement said the site now "predominantly serves as a drinking establishment, retaining the bar from its former use".

It added that a "small food menu" continued to be served.

Taylor's indicated it was granted a licence by Leeds City Council to serve alcohol in an upstairs area last July, in a move it said would allow it to serve more people.

It said that although the panel which considered the licence were concerned about the Otley Run, the majority had taken the view that granting the licence would not add to the problems perceived to be caused by the crawl.

On-the-spot fines were introduced for public urination, littering and other anti-social behaviour along the Otley Run route in 2020.

Supporters of the crawl have defended it, saying the majority of drinkers are well-behaved and it is healthy for the local economy.

But critics have claimed numbers of Otley Runners have ballooned since the Covid pandemic and that many local residents have experienced harassment and intimidation from those taking part.

In 2022, one local councillor compared the appearance of Headingley on weekend to "Magaluf" and blamed older drinkers for the problems, rather than students, many of whom live in the community.

Other premises in the area have had applications for alcohol licences rejected on the basis that they would potentially cause more public nuisance.

A spokesperson for Taylor's said they did not wish to comment, citing the ongoing planning process.

A decision is due to be made on the application in the coming weeks.

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