Exclusive: Blackpool pubs and clubs face early morning restriction order which could "devastate" town

14-Feb-2013 - Last updated on 14-Feb-2013 at 08:49 GMT

Under threat: an EMRO could spell the end of Blackpool's late-night economy

Proposals for an early morning restriction order (EMRO) in Blackpool have been slammed by licensees who claim it would “devastate” the town’s night-time economy.

Bars and clubs in the seaside resort’s late-night entertainment district are facing a 3am curfew on alcohol sales, with councillors looking to make the town more “family-friendly”.

Blackpool Council’s principal solicitor for licensing, Sharon Davies, told the Publican’s Morning Advertiser that an increase in violent crime between 11pm and 8am had put a drain on resources for emergency services.

She added that the introduction of an EMRO would provide a welcome boost to the early evening economy, which she said is suffering as result of people arriving in the town between 9pm and 10pm.

Davies said: “It is a good opportunity to look at taking Blackpool back to being a more family-friendly area with a more family-orientated offer around the early evening economy.”

However, Blackpool’s pubwatch chairman Craig Southall believes an EMRO from 3am would spell the end for Blackpool’s late-night venues, with another experienced licensee suggesting it will make Blackpool “the joke of England”.

“An EMRO as defined by the Government is a last resort and we are not at that stage yet,” said Southall, who is manager of Yates’s on Blackpool’s popular Market Street. “So far the licensing committee has only heard one side of the argument.

“If Blackpool did put an EMRO in, you can quite safely say that would be the end of our nightclubs.

“Blackpool is a tourist destination and you have to wonder whether tourists would want to go for a good night out in a town that has no late-night venues.”

Southall claimed that an EMRO could also have an unwelcome impact on residents of Blackpool should people continue drinking at home after 3am, a situation he believes would “simply put a further stretch on police resources”. He went on to suggest that “illegal drinking dens” may start popping up across the town, which he said would be “an absolute horror story”.

Dave Daly of the Castle Hotel, and north-west chairman of Licensees Unite, added: “Queen’s Street and Market Street are the lifeblood of the night-time economy, so putting a restriction on them will absolutely devastate a very lucrative night-time economy.

“We will have nothing left here. We will be the joke of England.”

Kate Nicholls, strategic affairs director for the Association of Licensed Multiple Retailers (ALMR), said: “The ALMR has said that it will challenge each and every EMRO proposal that comes forward — we have a fighting fund to do just that and are liaising with solicitors and barristers, if need be. We would warn the local licensing authority to proceed with caution.”

Blackpool Council’s licensing committee will discuss the introduction of an EMRO next month and will have to issue a full consultation should it wish to push ahead with the measure.