Council looks to ban standing at pubs in Soho and West End

The proposals have been slammed by Sadiq Khan.

In its new draft licensing policy, Westminster Council has recommended that pubs and bars should not allow “vertical drinking” or ordering at the bar.

The council oversees one of the busiest nightlife districts in Europe, with both Soho and the West End under its jurisdiction.

The bizarre suggestions are part of the council’s efforts to “discourage excessive drunkenness and encourage the provision of more seating in premises that serve alcohol for people to sit and enjoy a drink and order food by table service in place of open bar space that caters for high volume vertical drinking.”

It also recommends that sales of alcohol and food should be “by waiter or waitress service only”, the Guardian reports.

The council also wants to have the power to refuse applications for pubs, bars, fast food premises and music, dance or similar entertainment venues in the “West End Cumulative Impact Zone”, with exception for unnamed “limited circumstances”.

The policy is currently out for consultation and comments from residents of and visitors to Westminster, but has already been met with a frosty reaction from the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan.

Khan described the proposals as “restrictive and anti-growth” and said he hoped new powers granted to him by the government would allow him to block such plans.

A spokesperson for the mayor said: “At a time when venues need our support more than ever, the rules on licensing are stacked against them.”

Meanwhile, Entrepreneur Sacha Lord, who was Andy Burnham’s Greater Manchester night-time adviser, slammed Westminster Council as the “most anti-hospitality council in the UK.”

He said the council’s proposals were “like dragging us back to Covid times.”

Lesley Lewis, owner of the famous French House pub and restaurant, said such bans would “finish off” the Soho stalwart.

“We rely on those people standing up with the rents and the rates put upon us,” she said. “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.”

In a statement that such suggestions were “utterly ludicrous.”

He continued: “We want people to go out in the West End and have a good time. Our guidance is simply about encouraging venues to manage their customers so people don’t pack onto pavements or excessive drinking doesn’t disturb others passing by.

“The Cumulative Impact Zone is recognised as an area that has a high concentration of activity and particular policies exist for that in Westminster and the Mayor’s London-wider planning. There is a legal obligation to look at every application on its merits and we do just that, meaning we see new venues opening all the time.

“Again, there is little change here from the policy of previous administrations and we have seen new pubs and fast-food outlets open recently including a licence extension for the McDonald’s on Leicester Square, which will now be open 24 hours despite objections from the Mayor’s police representatives. 

“We are the country’s largest planning authority with some 4,000 licensed venues. We reject less than 1.5% of license applications and there is a strong desire to see thriving, profitable, venues across Westminster. 

“As we have made clear we are happy to work with the Mayor of London on licensing and have just launched our own campaign to promote nights out in Soho.”