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Defending a late night bar’s licence following a licensing review

The police were seeking a complete revocation of the premises licence

A popular late-night bar in Leicester faced closure after the police brought a summary review.

The licensing legal problem:

The premises was accused of failing to promote the licensing objectives. The police alleged that the venue had been operating without a Designated Premises Supervisor (DPS), in breach of several licence conditions and against the existing licensing plans.

As a result, the police claimed that they had lost confidence in the venue’s management and applied for a full revocation of the premises licence.

The legal value we added:

Associate Solicitor Joe Harvey was instructed to advise and represent the late-night venue at the licensing review.

At the hearing, Harvey successfully argued that there had been historical confusion over which parts of the premises the licence covered, and that a minor variation would resolve the issues raised about the licensing plans.

He also stated that the alleged breaches of conditions were partly due to staff training gaps. In response, the venue committed to retraining all staff and had already appointed a new security provider.

Results

Despite the police’s strong application for revocation, Harvey persuaded the licensing sub-committee not to revoke the licence.

Instead, the committee imposed additional conditions to better promote the licensing objectives and opted to suspend the licence temporarily to allow time for the new measures and training to be implemented.

Had the licence been revoked, it would have destroyed the premises.

To see how our teams could help, contact the London office on 0203 859 7760 or Nottingham on 0115 953 8500.

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