Scarborough Council extends opening hours of West Riding Hotel despite ‘anti-social behaviour’ complaints

The West Riding Hotel will now be permitted to remain open from 10am to 1.30am and to serve alcohol from 10am to 1am.

It was previously allowed to remain open until 1am on Fridays and Saturdays, 11pm on Sundays, and midnight from Monday to Thursday.

The sale of alcohol was also previously limited until midnight on Fridays and Saturdays.

Additionally, the hours during which live music, recorded music, and entertainment are permitted on the premises will now be from 10.00 until 00.30 every day, although some new conditions have also been imposed.

The plans were approved by the council’s licensing committee at a meeting on Thursday September 29.

The application was originally met with objections from members of the public during the consultation stage, including “allegations of anti-social behaviour” taking place on the premises.

The objections also addressed concerns about “additional noise and nuisance due to the extensions of opening hours and alcohol sales”.

The council said it did not find evidence to support the claims.

The minutes of the council’s licensing meeting state that the committee accepted that there had been no reports of complaints at the premises “other than one relating to an alleged unproven breach in relation to the coronavirus social distancing requirements”.

In coming to its decision, the council said it took into consideration licensing objectives of prevention of crime and disorder, prevention of public nuisance, public safety, and the protection of children from harm.

The committee noted that the police had withdrawn their objection and none of the people who lodged objections attended the meeting, so they were not able to question them.

The minutes of the meeting state: “Based on the evidence before us we are satisfied that the variation will not have an adverse impact on the crime and disorder, public safety and public nuisance objectives.”

However, additional conditions were also added to the licence, including the operation of the challenge 25 policy for the sale of alcohol.

Additionally, no drinks will be permitted to be taken outside of the building after 9.30pm.