Two bars have become the first in Lincoln to be granted 24 hours licences.
The Cloud Bar, in St Paul's Lane, off Bailgate, and the Library Bar, in Campus Way at the university, are now permitted to sell alcohol 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Lincolnshire Police wanted to impose extra conditions relating to CCTV, door supervision, radio links and proof of age policy.
But Lincoln City Council's licensing sub-committee took a different view and granted the licences to the bars' owners the Kurnia Group.
Director of the Kurnia Group and chairman of the Uphill Lincoln Pubwatch scheme Michael Kheng said that the new licences were about flexibility for pub managers rather than opening the floodgates to binge drinking.
"The fact is that all our premises now have the ability to sell alcohol 24 hours a day, seven days a week," he said.
"The reality is that the premises shall operate much as they have in the past but now my managers have the flexibility to open longer if they wish to do so.
"A few months ago there was a boxing match in America that was screened at 5am English time.
"The manager at the Library Bar applied for a temporary licence to stay open later - now if we want to stay open we don't need to apply each time.
"The new licensing laws were brought in to permit flexibility and to allow operators to choose their own opening hours.
"In my view the Act should have simply permitted every premises to be able to be open around the clock as the review process adequately deals with any premises that cause a problem."
Licensing manager for Lincoln City Council Keith Barron said that being able to open 24 hours a day does not necessarily mean managers will choose to do so on a regular basis.
"The Licensing Act 2003 advocates this flexible approach but with controls in place so that if premises cause problems, its licence can be reviewed," he said.
Nic Lance, who lives in uphill Lincoln, said he did not envisage the Cloud Bar encouraging 'lad and ladette' culture.
"It's not that sort of bar but my general concern about 24-hour opening is that it places a huge burden on the police," he said.
"I don't think the brewery industry contributes enough to the extra costs involved in policing."
Source: Lincolnshire Echo
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