All-day drinking delay in Britain

Press, 11 July 1988, Page 4

All-day drinking delay in Britain

By

TONY VERDON

in London

A delay in the relaxation of licensing laws means that all-day opening will not be introduced in time for the main tourist season in England and Wales this northern summer.

However, the British Government says the delay in relaxing the licensing laws is not linked to worries about drunken hooliganism. Home Office Ministers had originally intended that the legislation allowing pubs to open from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Mondays to Saturdays should take effect about the middle of this month. The measures were expected to be a bonus at the height of the holiday and tourist season, and included an extra hour during Sunday lunchtimes. But a technical hitch, caused by delays in arnaging new legal procemeans that the hours are now un-jj

likely to come into force until September. At present pubs must close in the afternoons, usually about 2.30 p.m., or the time when hot, footweary tourists feel in need of a cold beer. Day drinking was purely technical, and had no connection with recent concerns over the part played by alcohol in football hooliganism. The Government has been keen to see the longer pub opening hours come into effect as soon as possible, because the measure is expected to create more jobs as well as to give a boost to tourism. Ministers argued that afternoon closing was an out-of-date restriction on the majority of “sensible drinkers.” All-day drinking has been permitted in Scotland for some time. The delay has been caused by the need to change Crown Court rules to permit appeals by lit censees against restriction £ orders on all-day opening.