Police have objected to a proposal by an off-licence owner to sell alcohol until 2am over two weekends running.
Amira Makram, 44, submitted a “temporary event notice” (TEN) to Brighton and Hove City Council for Thingslicious, in Preston Street, Brighton.
Her convenience store has a licence until midnight and she wants to be able to sell drink until 2am on Saturday 26 October and Sunday 27 October and the following weekend.
At a council licensing panel hearing today (Tuesday 22 October), Ms Makram’s agent, Graham Hopkins, of GT Licensing, set out her reasons.
Mr Hopkins said that the aim was to see if it would be worth applying for late licences over the Christmas and new year period.
In the future, he said, Ms Makram would consider applying to vary the trading hours at her business.
The shop, at 83 Preston Street, sold drink until 2am over the weekend before last, having submitted a temporary event notice to the council.
Mr Hopkins told the panel – councillors Ivan Lyons, Paul Nann and Kerry Pickett – that most of the customers taking advantage of later trading were residents or staff from nearby shops and restaurants.
He said that businesses regularly used temporary event notices to extend their hours for special occasions.
Mr Hopkins said: “Nowhere does it say that temporary event notices cannot be used to temporarily extend a premises licence. We do it all the time for public houses, for various locations. It’s a lot more common.
“There is nothing in the law that prohibits. The guidance indicates it is a light-touch process which means, in my mind, it can be used for basically anything that is legal and legitimate.”
Councillor Nann asked whether Ms Makram could carry out market research instead of using a temporary event notice to find out whether later opening might be worthwhile.
In response, Mr Hopkins emphasised the legality of the application.
Sussex Police objected to the later hours because, the force said, they would not promote the “licensing objectives” – as required by law.
In particular, Inspector Dan Eagle said in a written objection, the later trading could undermine the objectives of preventing crime and disorder and public nuisance and promoting public safety.
Crime statistics for the past 12 months within a few hundred yards of the business included 287 crimes, of which 68 were violent and 28 occurred between midnight and 2am.
Sussex Police licensing officer Mark Thorogood told the panel that the force would support an extension of the licensed hours over Christmas and the new year.
He said that Ms Makram also owned Sam’s Offie at the other end of Preston Street and had a 3am licence there so she would be aware of the demand for late opening in the area.
Mr Thorogood said that the force did not support the use of temporary event notices to extend licensed trading hours when not linked with an event.
He said: “It’s not in the spirit of a TEN. It’s worth noting when you operate under a TEN there are no conditions attached to it such as staff training (and) CCTV.
“This is because a TEN is seen as a light touch and as such a low risk. We don’t see applying to sell alcohol from midnight to 2am as a light touch.”
Mr Thorogood said that the council’s licensing policy encouraged temporary event notices for “bona fide” community events and did not encourage their use for extending hours of operation.
The panel retired to make its decision which should be made public as soon as practicably possible.