00:00A Wetherspoon pub in Headingley is pushing for later opening hours,
00:04just weeks after being blocked from serving drinkers on one of the country's most famous pub crawls.
00:11The Golden Beam has applied to Leeds City Council to extend the hours it can sell alcohol
00:16until midnight from Sunday to Thursday and 12.30am at weekends. Currently, it must stop at 10.30pm
00:24on weeknights. The move comes after the pub failed to remove a licence condition banning Otley Run
00:31participants from entering. That earlier bid sparked 145 objections, including from West Yorkshire Police
00:38and Leeds Central MP Alex Sobel. Now, this latest application has drawn 22 objections from local
00:46residents and Headingley Green Party councillor Tim Goodall, who warns that later hours would mean
00:52increased consumption of alcohol, leading to an even higher rate of drunk and disorderly crime.
00:58The Otley Run has long been linked to complaints of antisocial behaviour,
01:02including violence, littering and public urination. While Wetherspoon previously argued that allowing
01:08runners inside would ease pressure by providing food, space and toilets, residents remain unconvinced.
01:16One objector wrote,
01:17Please don't ruin our neighbourhood any further by allowing this pub to go back on all its promises.
01:23The licence condition, barring Otley Runners, was originally offered by Wetherspoon when the pub opened in 2020.
Comments