Melton pub applies to stay open until 3.30am

Operators of The White Lion, in Nottingham Street, want to stay open an hour later, to 3.30am, to allow customers to enjoy themselves until later in the night and to give the business more flexibility in their trading hours.

A stage is planned in the external area of the premises and a minimum of two door supervisors would be in attendance from 10pm until closing on Fridays and Saturdays.

The application to vary the premises licence will be considered by Melton Borough Council’s licensing sub-committe on Thursday September 24.

Police have voiced concerns about recent anti-social behaviour at the pub and an absence of adequate Covid-19 safety measures.

And the council’s environmental health officer has opposed the variation in licence because he says it ‘would set a dangerous precedent’ to give the pub such a wide scope to operate as an outdoor entertainment venue.

The White Lion was bought by Heineken UK in March 2018 and its subsidiary, Punch, operates the licence with Simon Brookes as designated premises supervisor.

A report to go before the committee outlines a number of conditions the pub would adhere to following discussions with police.

These include the door supervisors, extensive CCTV coverage, staff training in ‘Challenge 25’ for responsible alcohol sales, windows and doors being kept closed to keep late night noise levels down and no more than the capacity of 320 people allowed into the premises.

“The purpose for seeking later hours would allow our customers to continue their night in a safe and comfortable environment and give the premises greater flexibility around trading,” the applicant states.

The pub has had licensing issues in the past under previous management and the report says that in March 2018 a a premises licence review application was received by the council from police.

This flagged up concerns regarding repeated sales of alcohol to children, knowingly allowing music to be played beyond permitted times, employing an illegal worker, failing to maintain required door staff numbers, allowing a customer who was on the banned pub watch list

entry and failing to assist officers with supplying CCTV after a serious incident.

The designated premises supervisor (DPS) was removed at the hearing and since then there have been three further changes of DPS with the latest being in

post since July 28 this year.

The report to be heard by licensing committee members includes comments from police since the application was made early last month.

Officers refer to two incidents of affray and assault at the pub on the weekend of September 11 to 13 where arrests were made.

“The correspondence from the police also noted that there was a lack of social distancing and lack of track and trace systems in place at the premises, there were over 150 people in the rear yard and insufficient door staff present to deal with that number,” the report continued.

Environmental health officer, David Martschenko, has lodged an objection to the application because of the additional noise and nuisance it would cause.

Commenting on the requested licence amendments he writes: “This is a distinctly different trading environment from a pub beer garden or smoking area and represents a significant intensification of use and change in the fundamental nature of that space.

“The proposed venue which would generate considerable noise from both amplified music and speech and rowdy, intoxicated patrons in the heart of Melton town centre well into the early hours of the morning on an indeterminate number of occasions.”

He says it would be preferable for the outdoor entertainment to finish at 11pm and just food and drink sales be allowed outside until midnight.

An objection was also received from an unnamed other licensed premises in Melton which pointed out previous incidents of anti-social behaviour at the pub and voiced concerns that it would lead to other pubs applying for later licences and that Melton ‘will end up being a town of nightclubs open till all hours in the morning’.