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PUBS TO OPEN ROUND THE CLOCK FOR MILLENNIUM CELEBRATIONS
By Eileen Murphy, Consumer Affairs Correspondent, PA News
Millennium revellers will be able to drink around the clock, the Government announced today.
The Home Office said the results of a recent consultation exercise seeking views on opening hours for New Year's Eve had supported the Government's preference for an all-night relaxation of licensing hours.
Their plans will allow pubs and clubs to open from 11am throughout the night on New Year's Eve with pubs eventually returning to normal opening hours at 11pm closing on New Year's Day.
The new arrangements would come into effect in time for this year's Millennium celebrations and apply to subsequent New Year's Eves.
The Government added that special powers would be put in place to limit the opening hours of premises causing nuisance.
The Government also announced a general, wide-ranging review of liquor licensing laws last May.
Pub industry leaders said the Government's decision would allow them to get on with the business of planning their Millennium parties.
Tim Hampson, spokesman for the Brewers and Licensed Retailers Association, said the owners and licensees of Britain's 61,000 public houses would be relieved that the decision had not been left until the last minute.
He said: "It's a sensible piece of deregulation allowing pubs to open and close when they like over a 36-hour period.
"It is good news for people who want to go out to their pub and enjoy the party atmosphere.
"Remember, not all pubs will stay open all the way through. It will be a case of where there is the demand. The good thing for people running pubs is that each and every one of them doesn't now have to go and make a individual application for a late licence and it gives us the opportunity to plan our staffing and organise special events."
He added he did not believe that the extended opening would lead to binge drinking saying there was no evidence the more relaxed laws in Northern Ireland and Scotland had led to an increase in alcohol abuse.
Mr Hampson said: "One New Year's Eve party does not make you an alcohol abuser."
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