Wetherspoon bid to host Otley Run drinkers refused

A pub has failed in its bid to join a popular bar crawl in Leeds after councillors refused its application.

The Golden Beam, a JD Wetherspoon pub, had asked Leeds City Council to amend its licence to allow it to serve revellers taking part in the Otley Run.

The 19-stop bar crawl through Headingley attracts thousands of participants every week, local councillors have claimed, and divides opinion among businesses and residents.

Speaking before the council's licensing sub-committee refused the application earlier, Headingley and Hyde Park councillor Abdul Hannan said allowing it to expand would be "a very difficult thing for the area".

While some have welcomed the presence of fancy-dress-clad revellers taking part in the bar crawl, others have raised concerns about anti-social behaviour and large crowds on Otley Road, a major thoroughfare in Leeds.

In April, two women were seriously injured in a crossbow attack on the road, with the suspect taking his own life by shooting himself moments later.

JD Wetherspoon had argued that allowing the change would "improve, rather than detract from, anti-social behaviour".

The pub, which opened in 2021, was allowed to serve Otley Runners across five consecutive Saturdays in September and October using a Temporary Event Notice (TEN).

Listen to highlights from West Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North.