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БД: Third of alcohol outlets to extend opening hours Mark Oliver and agencies Wednesday November 23 2005 The Guardian Around one third of pubs, clubs and stores selling alcohol are to extend their opening hours when new licensing laws come into effect at midnight, research revealed today. However, very few will introduce 24-hour drinking, which is now permitted in some areas under the updated licensing laws for England and Wales. A study carried out by BBC News showed that around 70,000 outlets would be allowed to sell alcohol for longer than they currently do. Of these, only 359 pubs and clubs will get 24-hour licences. An overall total of 1,121 businesses have been granted 24-hour licenses, including around 250 supermarkets, with the rest going mostly to smaller stores. The reform of the licensing laws - which the government insists had become outdated - is highly controversial, and critics claim it will add to the UK's binge drinking problems. Officials yesterday admitted the new laws could lead to more alcohol-related arrests because more police resources were being targeted in this area. Under the new legislation, there will be greater regulation of the drinks industry, with police and local authorities given greater powers to tackle businesses fuelling alcohol misuse. Tonight, it is thought a few premises will stop serving at 11pm and begin again at one minute past midnight. Under the new system, all premises selling alcohol had to reapply for their licence, with 98% - around 184,000 - having done so. Of those, 40% were seeking to change their opening hours, while 60% of pubs applied for different hours. In lieu of official government figures showing the proportion of licensed premises to have been granted extended hours, the BBC attempted to survey the 375 licensing authorities, with 301 responding. The survey showed that 56,388 outlets had been granted longer hours. After estimated figures for the authorities that had not responded were added, the number allowed to sell alcohol for longer was likely to rise to around 70,000, BBC News said. Figures from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport showed one in four establishments applying to change their hours had met objections from residents and police. Two thirds of the disputes were resolved through negotiation, but most of the rest of the applications were either turned down or granted with conditions. As many as 5,000 pubs, bars and clubs in London will be able to serve alcohol up to midnight or later, according to the Evening Standard. The new laws mean the capital will have up to 7,500 extra drinking hours on Friday and Saturday nights, the paper said. Fewer than 20 London premises are thought to have been granted a licence to serve alcohol round the clock, but these figures do not include shops that also applied to sell alcohol later. Opposition politicians, however, have seized on comments made by the Home Office minister, Paul Goggins, who yesterday said there could be more alcohol-related arrests. The Tory culture spokeswoman, Theresa May, said his remarks showed the government had "finally realised that longer drinking will mean more crime and disorder". Government officials have said they hoped the UK would adopt a more continental style drinking culture, but critics remain sceptical about whether that will happen. The new laws mean shops caught selling alcohol to minors could have their licence hanged, suspended or revoked, and could also be fined £5,000, and ministers said supermarket chains including Tesco, Sainsbury's, Asda and Morrisons, have pledged a zero tolerance approach on the issue. "We see this as a central part of our drive to decrease alcohol consumption by young people, in particular alcohol consumption on the street," the home secretary, Charles Clarke, said. Martin Shalley, the president of the British Association for Emergency Medicine, warned that A&E departments across England and Wales would bear the brunt of the effects of increased binge drinking. He said the association had argued against changes to the licensing laws, and added: "We already see people who have been injured because they have drunk too much. I think this is now going to occur a lot more frequently." However, the licensing minister, James Purnell, argued that the 11pm "curfew" on drinking - which has existed since the beginning of the 20th century - was inappropriate in a time of changing lifestyles
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