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Out-Law News 1 min. read

Plans to extend English licensing hours for Queen's birthday published


Draft regulations allowing licensed premises in England and Wales to open for longer over the weekend of the Queen's 90th birthday have been published.

If granted parliamentary approval, the regulations would give premises that already hold a licence to sell alcohol for consumption on the premises until at least 11pm an automatic extension until 1am the following morning on Friday 10 June and Saturday 11 June 2016. The extension would apply only to holders of a premises licence or a club premises certificate, and would not allow 'off sales' of alcohol for consumption off the licensed premises.

The regulations would not apply in Scotland or Northern Ireland, each of which operate their own licensing laws.

Normally, licensed premises wishing to be granted a one-off extension to the hours during which they can sell alcohol must apply for a temporary event notice (TEN) from the local licensing authority.

"Should licensees wish to trade beyond the 0100hrs extension, then they should still apply for a TEN to ensure they can operate the hours that they would like," said licensing law expert Christopher Rees-Gay of Pinsent Masons, the law firm behind Out-Law.com.

"The extended hours will be something that I imagine will be warmly welcomed by the on-trade and customers alike," he said.

Although the Queen's birthday is on 21 April, her 'official' birthday will be celebrated on 11 June this year. This is the same day as the national football teams of England and Wales play their first matches as part of this year's European football championships.

The draft regulations would also allow premises that are licensed to provide regulated entertainment or late night refreshment, meaning hot food or drink, for an additional two hours on the specified dates provided that those premises are also licensed to sell alcohol for consumption on the premises.

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