A shop owner who sought to stay open until 2am over two weekends was told that she had to stick to her existing midnight closing time. Amira Makram, 44, had already used a “temporary event notice” to trade until 2am at her shop, Thingslicious, in Preston Street, Brighton , over one weekend in the middle of last month. She also wanted to keep her convenience store open later and able to sell drink until 2am on Saturday 26 October and Sunday 27 October and the following weekend.
Sussex Police objected and, as a result, a Brighton and Hove City Council licensing panel was asked to decide the matter. At the hearing on Tuesday 22 October, Ms Makram’s agent, Graham Hopkins, of GT Licensing, said that she wanted to see if it was worth applying for a late licence over the Christmas period. But her shop is in a part of Brighton where there are restrictions on late licences because of the “saturation” of licensed premises and the high level of crime and disorder linked to alcohol.
Police licensing officer Mark Thorogood told the hearing that the force would support an extension of the licensed hours over Christmas and the new year. But he said that premises trading late having served a temporary event notice faced fewer conditions than those relying on a normal drinks licence. He said that it was against the spirit of the “light touch” regime which was intended for low-risk occasions.
Inspector Dan Eagle said in a written objection that the later trading could undermine t.