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Pubs and punters have slammed proposals made by Westminster City Council to curb drinkers standing at Soho and West End pubs.
The central London council sparked fury when its new draft licensing policy recommended that more venues should reduce standing at pubs.
As it stands, a cumulative impact zone is in place across Soho, Covent, Garden, Leicester Square, Piccadilly Circus and parts of Fitzrovia and Mayfair. This designation allows the council to refuse applications for bars, clubs, and other licence applications on the basis that it could lead to more crime or public nuisance.
The new draft policy, which is under consultation, could mean that venues applying for licensing will need to “demonstrate meaningful reductions in actual operating capacity.”
This could include offering “enhanced dispersal measures”, offering table service, or restricting “vertical drinking.”
But the draft policy has been received badly by punters and pub owners.
The owner of Soho’s famous French House said the policy would lead to closures, redundancies, and loss of business.
Lesley Lewis, 71, who has owned the pub for 37 years, said the policy “will kill the whole business.”
“It will really finish us off. We rely on those people standing up with the rents and the rates put upon us. People want to enjoy themselves in Soho, they want to have a drink outside, they want to dance, they don’t want to sit down and just be where they are, they want to meet people and chat,” she said.
Ms Lewis added that punters would be persuaded to go to Camden instead, where it is more “licence friendly.”
Jan De Vries, general manager at Bradley’s Spanish Bar, suggested the council “wants everybody off the streets after 11pm.”
Fury as London council clamps down on standing at Soho and West End pubs